


Memory of Younger Days

by ryttu3k



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Amnesia, F/F, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Memories, Polyamory, Trans Female Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-13
Updated: 2018-06-29
Packaged: 2018-10-03 21:52:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 30
Words: 41,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10259342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ryttu3k/pseuds/ryttu3k
Summary: Link wakes up, and begins to remember.





	1. Muscle Memory

"Open your eyes."

Link wakes up.

"Open your eyes."

Link wakes up, numb and drifting, lost, disoriented. There is a voice, a quiet, urgent voice.

"Open your eyes."

Link opens her eyes.

"Open your eyes."

Blue, glowing blue swimming above her, blurring, resolving into elaborate lights.

"Wake up, Link."

There is sensation. Liquid draining away, exposing bare skin to chilly air. Link pushes herself up, investigates the strange vessel she has been floating in, and gets to her feet. There is something glowing in the corner, a small rectangular object just the right size to fit in her hand.

"That is a Sheikah slate. Take it. It will guide you after your long slumber."

She knows it. She's never seen it before, but somehow, she knows it. It fits in her hand, easily.

She doesn't remember. Link knows her name, because the voice that called her awake had said it. She knows how to run, how to move, how to pick things up. She knows when she finds a few chests in the next room how to dress herself.

Muscle memory, she thinks vaguely, muscle memory that has been retained even when memories of the past have not.

She remembers the sun.

"Link, you are the light - our light - that must shine upon Hyrule once again."

So no pressure, then.

"Now, go."

Link runs, scrambles up the side of the rock face like she has done it every day for a lifetime, runs out into the light.


	2. Bright-Eyed

"What brings a bright-eyed young man like you to a place like this?"

And she doesn't remember much, but she's pretty sure that part is wrong.

"I'm a girl," she says, then pauses. The timbre of her voice is wrong, pitched a little too low; the truth she knows for herself does not match the body she has awakened in. Frowning, she glances down at herself, at the flat chest in the thin shirt.

The old man, to his credit, only smiles a little. "A bright-eyed young lady, then," he says without skipping a beat.

Link bites her lip. "Where are we?"

He explains. He shows her the world, a world that's so much bigger than any she can imagine, and yet one, she senses, that is only a minuscule part of a whole.

She leaves to explore. She picks up fighting on the fly, handling a branch like a sword. She does not remember how to use a sword, but her body, her muscles. They remember.

The voice tells her to follow the map, and she does, and she thinks.

She has woken up in a strange place that she is sure she knows. The old man assumed she was a boy; she knows she is not. Her body knows how to run, to jump and climb, to fight. Even names come to her mind - _Bokoblin_ , she knows; a fragment of a memory.

The creatures in the Temple are a memory that makes her feel sick to the stomach, furious, betrayed, her heart aching. She runs, runs as far as she can, runs and does not look back.

This world has dangers.

The control panel for the Slate is becoming familiar, too. Link holds the Slate up to it, and the ground beneath her feet lifts to the sky. When the rumbling stops, she pushes herself back and finds herself gazing at a castle, and around that castle is a swirl of monstrous power.

"Remember..."

Her again, the voice that sang Link awake. I'm trying, she wants to cry out, I'm trying!

"Try... try to remember..."

She's trying!

"You have been asleep for the past one hundred years."

The castle. She knows the castle, she _knows_ it, knows it like sickness, like hurt.

"The beast... when the beast regains its true power, the world will face its end."

There is something wrong with the castle. Malevolence swirls around it, seeps through the cracks in its stones.

"Now then... you must hurry, Link... before it's too late..."

"I will," she says, and means it.


	3. One Hundred Years

Link sits in a tree, a half-eaten apple in her hand, and gazes out at the castle.

It's been one hundred years.

Calamity Ganon, the Divine Beasts, the Guardians. Well, that explains the sense of fury and betrayal she has already felt upon seeing them - they turned on them, and in turn, led to her near demise.

And her own destiny, her destiny as the knight sworn to protect the divine Princess, as one of the Champions... it's overwhelming, powerful, painful to even contemplate. How is she meant to be a Hero? What power is meant to be in her hand? She's barely woken up and now she has to save the world, and it's a world she hardly remembers.

She gazes at the castle.

Inside it is Princess Zelda, a relic of the past like Link herself, a voice that has called from across Hyrule to rouse Link from her sleep. It is Link's destiny to save her and to save Hyrule, to defeat Calamity Ganon, to stop the power that brought such devastation to Hyrule, to the Champions, to Link, even at the height of their power.

And here she is, an amnesiac with a rusted broadsword and a pouchful of apples!

So much of her wants to call it a lie. So much of her wants to believe that the Champion died one hundred years ago, that she is in control of her own life and has no destiny laid upon her shoulders.

But with tattered fragments of memory, she remembers just enough to verify the dead king's words, and her destiny will not be denied.

She can remember the castle, running barefoot in soft grass in the gardens. The clash of swords, the sound of battles juxtaposed with the oddly soothing more rhythmic strikes of training exercises. "One, two, three, hup! One, two, three, hup!" The feeling of a sword in her hand, moving effortlessly, easily. She can remember being little, being held on a much bigger lap, a scratchy beard resting atop her head. She thinks, perhaps, she can almost remember Princess Zelda herself, a flash of golden hair, the petals of a blue flower, an ache in her chest.

Link was a knight, a Champion, the protector of a Princess. And the part of her that remembers knows that. The part of her that remembers Princess Zelda will not let her remain imprisoned in her own home, desperately trying to hold back the tide of destruction that Calamity Ganon will unleash.

She knows what she has been told. Knight, Champion, protector. She was a chosen one, wielding a sword to hold back the darkness; she had nearly lost her life to the beast that holds on to the castle. She knows that it is her destiny to save the Princess and stop Calamity Ganon, and that if she doesn't, then no one else will.

She knows what she feels, herself. She knows that she likes climbing trees, running, swimming (even if she isn't very good at it). She knows she likes apples. She knows that she sometimes has a sharp tongue ("How about you make your way back to the top of that tower again?" "...Are you joking?") and knows that puns sometimes trip off her tongue without her even thinking about it. She knows she's a girl, despite how others see her; she knows that wherever she goes, they will be expecting a man.

Link can remember a disconnect, of biting her tongue when people had looked at her and seen a man, because of course that was what a knight must have been. In this new world, in this time free of those expectations, literally the first words out of her mouth had been, "I'm a girl."

She had hidden herself away under the weight of expectation. Now, those expectations are still set upon her shoulders, and this time, she refuses to be beholden to them.

Link will save Princess Zelda, stop Calamity Ganon, save Hyrule. And this time, she will do it as herself.

She finishes the apple, drops the core amongst the tree roots, and drops lightly to the ground, and starts the long walk to Kakariko.


	4. Impa and Purah

When Link first awakened, she had not assumed that there would still be those who remembered her.

Apparently, Sheikah live sufficiently long enough lives that Impa and her sister Purah remember her personally, and that is something Link just isn't sure how to handle.

They seem vaguely familiar, she can tell that much. But whether it's her faulty memory or the passage of time that has changed their features and voices, she can't bring herself to reconcile two old women (even if one is in the form of a small child) with the few memories she has managed to scrape together; the expressions on both Impa and Purah's faces when she says she doesn't remember will stay with her.

Once a hero, always a hero, Impa had said. She had barely changed, Impa had said.

It's not sitting well with Link.

Both Impa and Purah, the King, Princess Zelda in the castle, even Impa's granddaughter. They're all expecting a Hero of Legend, one with the weight of ten thousand years on their shoulders.

She has a Slate full of photos that mean nothing to her. She has her dual missions, to free the four Divine Beasts, to restore her memory.

Daruk, Revali, Mipha, Urbosa. Vah Rudania, Vah Medoh, Vah Ruta, Vah Naboris. These names mean nothing, nothing to her. They mean nothing to her!

But - something. Something, in the back of her mind, something on her lips. She mouths them, dedicates the words to memory.

Something in her remembers. She has said these names before, many, many times.

Still, the rest is frustratingly, maddeningly blank, and Link can't help but wish that Princess Zelda had taken a few photos of herself and the Champions instead of just unfamiliar landscapes.

At a lost, completely, Link fills in the time in Kakariko Village, helping villagers find lost cuccos and fetching ingredients for little girls. It's not until she chances a conversation with the painter, Pikango, that her fortunes begin to change - requested to bring a picture of the Fairy Fountain up in the hills, she does.

Pikango looks through the slate, and points out the second-last picture. To the east, he says, there is a mountain, and a snowfield, and at the foot of the mountain, there is a gate.

Lanayru Promenade feels vaguely familiar. Fighting hordes of Bokoblins, even moreso. She fights off a Moblin, ducks and spins beneath its club to deliver blows with accuracy she doesn't remember training for.

She continues up the path, sees the mountain rise up above her, vast and snowy and windblasted, sees the gate framing it like a picture, and feels nothing. Nothing. Link sighs in disappointment and turns, turns as if she has been coming _from_ the mountain,

and

she

 _remembers_.


	5. Memory 15: Return of Calamity Ganon

She can see them. The Champions, she can _see_ them, they are living, breathing memory in front of her eyes.

They are long dead. But in her mind, they still live.

Link walks behind Princess Zelda, behind and to her right, ready to defend her. All she can see of the Princess is long blonde hair and a white dress; Link turns her attention to the Champions.

She can name them, now. Daruk, the Goron Champion. Revali, of the Rito. Mipha, the Champion for the Zora. Urbosa, one of the Gerudo. In her memory, it is Mipha who stands out the clearest; Link lets her eyes fall shut and replays the memory.

They had visited the mountain, and they had failed. The Princess had been seeking something, a power, a feeling; she is so crestfallen at her failure that Link yearns to comfort her, to tell her it's okay. She gazes at the Princess, at the side of her face; her attention slides towards the Zora girl's when she speaks.

"If I may," Mipha starts cautiously, "I thought you - well - I'm not sure how to put this into words, I'm actually quite embarrassed to say it." In memory, Mipha catches Link's eye before turning back to Princess Zelda. "But I was thinking about what I do when I'm healing. You know, what usually goes through my mind?"

Link can't take her eyes off her. She mouths the words as Mipha says them.

"It helps when I think - when I think about -"

Mipha's gaze meets Link's again, and Link knows that the next word was to be her name, and she gasps, bites down on her lip to stop the unintentional cry when sensory memories flicker through her body - cool hands in hers, soft lips against hers, the warm amber of Mipha's eyes, smiles, intimacy, soft water and warm hands.

They were romantically involved, weren't they? Link knows it, feels it in her gut, and knows that what triggers Mipha's powers are thoughts of love.

She doesn't want to remember what comes next. She does anyway.

The Champions are to leave for their Divine Beasts. Link will never see them again. Link is to face Ganon itself. She will barely survive it. And Princess Zelda... Princess Zelda...

Princess Zelda is going to face it. Ultimately, she will face Calamity Ganon on her own, a girl in a white dress who still has not yet found her power.

"There must be something I can do to help..."

A shock of pain shoots up Link's legs. She has crumpled to the ground, knees striking the rock.

Alone again at the gate, she gazes blindly in the direction of the castle. In there, Princess Zelda is fighting for her life and for the safety of Hyrule. In four directions, all around her, the Divine Beasts wait for Link, wait for her to free them from Calamity Ganon's grasp. Four peoples, four peoples who have lost their Champions, waiting for Link to show up and try, try to make things better.

It's overwhelming.

Sitting at the gate, Link draws her bruised knees up and wraps her arms around her legs. It's overwhelming, and she doesn't even know where to start, except that the memory has given her at least some guidance.

Cool water, soft hands, gentle lips. Link bites her own absently, then closes her eyes and tries, tries to dredge up more memory of Mipha, the Zora girl she's fairly sure she loved, tries to untangle and separate those feelings from the surge of emotion and pressure in her chest when the memory of long golden hair rises in her mind again.

If she was involved with Mipha, then what must Link's relationship with the Princess of Hyrule be? Was she truly only her knight and protector? It doesn't feel right in her head, is too mixed in with complicated feelings to unpick.

It's only when a chill runs through the air, the sun sinking towards the horizon, casting the mountain in golden light, that she finds it in her to stand. She will go back to Kakariko Village and talk to Impa again, see if she can't work out where things stand.

And then, she thinks, she will go and find the Zora.


	6. Memory 10: Mipha's Touch

Sopping wet, bruised, bedraggled, and very, very much wanting a soft bed, Link practically drags herself the last few metres across the bridge into Zora's Domain.

It's raining - of course it's raining, it's been raining since she first arrived at the river - and the sky is dark, both from the late hour and the ever-present clouds. Ahead, she can see Prince Sidon waiting, her guide (of sorts) through the Lanayru region; she makes an effort to at least straighten her back.

If nothing else, he's really quite sweet.

Little time to get acclimatised, the Prince leads her away immediately to see the King, and Link makes an effort to at least look heroic and not like a drowned rat. This is her main quest, after all; she was specifically instructed to seek out the leaders of each race to learn more about the Divine Beasts. And so she shall be the very picture of the hero they expect her to be; they deserve that much, at least.

Her gaze slides, almost automatically, to the statue in the middle of the courtyard.

_Mipha._

In the throne room, Prince Sidon remains silent, giving Link a brief, encouraging smile as he gestures to his father, King Dorephan. Link bows in greeting.

It's... awkward, being remembered, not remembering. The King knows who she is, knows that she was (is?) the Hylian Champion. Prince Sidon, it seems, had not known who she was when he had first approached her, and it's actually a little refreshing, being asked for help because she seems capable and not because of her past; still, the King remembers all too clearly.

He is, Link knows, Mipha's father. And there is despair in his eye when he realises, realises that Link does not remember her.

Cool water, soft hands, gentle lips. The memories she does have are barely impressions.

Link listens to the King's plea, the request to pacify Vah Ruta, the protests of Muzu, with half an ear. The rest of her attention is turned inwards; she is desperately trying to work out the past, trying to find something, anything familiar about the Domain, about the King, about Mipha.

Muzu storms off in a huff. Prince Sidon sighs and hurries after him; the King urges Link to follow.

She finds them before the statue. Muzu snorts at the sight of her. "You came all this way here, but it was in vain," he huffs, "I have no desire to speak with you."

Prince Sidon's gaze is upon her; she glances back at him when he speaks. "Listen well, Muzu," he says quietly, calmly. "There is something you need to know. He who stands here - the man called Link -"

(Link winces, just a little -)

"- is the one whom my sister Mipha had feelings for. I was only a child then," Sidon continues in a rush, "So I did not know it myself at the time. But it is so."

"I remember," Link says softly, so softly her voice is lost to the rain.

Sidon continues: "I grew up hearing my father tell stories, some of which were about my sister's undying love for a Hylian named Link."

Muzu protests; Sidon reassures. Link gazes up at the statue, gazes up at it clutching the armour to her chest, the armour that Mipha had made for her, the intended betrothal gift that was never given, and the dampness on her face is not entirely just from the rain.

Mipha...

She...

She remembers. Link remembers, a fragment of a memory that spreads across her mind like a lotus flower. She remembers sitting with Mipha, gentle hands resting against Link's aching arm, the healing magic she uses spreading through her like a balm.

"But know this," she had said as they had sat upon Vah Ruta, just the two of them, alone and comfortable, "But know this, that no matter how difficult this battle might get - if you - if anyone ever tries to do you harm, then I will heal you."

Their gazes had locked.

"No matter when, or how bad the wound. I hope you know," she whispers, "That I will always protect you."

"I know," Link had whispered, and they had turned to each other, Mipha's golden eyes slipping shut, vision fading out as Link's own eyes close, Mipha's hands around her own and the softest press of lips -

Link lets out a gasp that's more of a sob; Prince Sidon and Muzu turn to her sharply.

"Mipha," she manages to say through trembling voice, "I remember."

Muzu is skeptical; he demands proof. Link grits her teeth, then nods sharply, stripping off her belt, scabbard, slipping the tunic and undershirt over her head, dropping the gloves and arm wraps in a sodden pile. And she slips the armour on; the armour that fits like a second skin, like it had been made for her.

Which, of course, it had; which, of course, is the proof that Muzu wants.

He falters, tells Link where to find the shock arrows that they will need, playing a dangerous game of Dodge the Lynel. (Lynel? Another vague flicker of recognition, maybe just a hint of wariness.) 

But it is late, and Link is faltering, exhausted. The Prince notices; he sets a hand, gentle like Mipha's own, on Link's shoulder, and Link tries not to lean in to the unexpectedly nice touch. "Tomorrow," he says firmly. "For tonight, Link, I will arrange a bed at the inn for you. The finest and most comfortable water bed!"

The water bed is soft and squishy and fun; Link allows herself to be childish for a moment and bounces on it, a grin on her face, her cares, briefly, forgotten. And then the true exhaustion slips around her again and she undresses, lays herself down, closes her eyes.

"You know," Mipha smiles in her memory, "Perhaps, once this whole thing is over, we could spend some time together."

"I'd like that," Link mumbles to her pillow, and lets herself sleep.


	7. Mipha's Grace

"Show the enemy no fear," Prince Sidon tells Link as they approach the downed Beast, "I'll see you back at Zora's Domain."

Giddy with success and high on adrenaline, Link curls her hand in his cravat, tugs him close, and presses a kiss against the Zora's lips. Sidon blinks in surprise when they part, then grins, exposing sharp teeth. "Oh. _Well_ then. Farewell."

"Farewell," Link murmurs, face flushing more red than Sidon's soft scales, and dashes into the belly of the Beast.

Why had she done that? Well, she's pretty sure she knows why, because Sidon is kind, and supportive, and really quite pretty, and they've just successfully subdued a Divine Beast while she sat upon his back and felt his muscles move beneath her legs, and she's only human, isn't she? Still, she feels guilty as she shakes herself off and ventures towards the guidance stone she can see, scanning for enemies.

"You're here," Mipha's soft voice calls as she presses the Slate against the stone, and Link freezes.

Mipha is here. Mipha is here, in Vah Ruta, and Link has just kissed her brother.

"I must say... that I am so happy to see that this day has finally arrived. Now, Ruta can be freed of Ganon's control." There is a smile in her voice; Link relaxes fractionally.

"Hi," she says softly, hesitantly.

Mipha's giggle rings through Vah Ruta.

They talk, all the way through. Mipha gives her advice, watches out for danger. They share stories, memories. Link tells her of her father, her brother, and guiltily admits to the kiss; Mipha only laughs and says that, clearly, good taste must run in the family. When Link has to stop for the night and curls up, exhausted, in an empty room, Mipha keeps her company, keeps her promise, keeps her safe.

When the Blight is dead, Link crumples to the ground in front of the pedestal, exhausted, bleeding, and dizzy. "I did it," she whispers to Mipha, her eyes closed. "I'm sorry I couldn't do it sooner. I'm sorry I couldn't save you."

There is soft green flickering behind Link's eyelids, cool and otherworldly. Link opens her eyes and finds Mipha before her.

"You were brave," she murmurs, and curls her spectral fingers around Link's hands. "And now my spirit is free - and Ruta's, as well." She's smiling, smiling so gently, so forgivingly.

"I miss you," Link says, and her voice cracks. "I didn't remember - not at first, but I was in the Domain, and - everything reminded me of you, and -"

There, Link had learned to swim. There, they had climbed up to the base of the Veiled Falls. There, they had played at being pirates, dragons, fairies.

There, Mipha had learned to heal. There, they had kissed for the first time.

And the second, and the third, and the fourth.

"I know," Mipha whispers, and her eyes close again, her forehead resting against Link's. "I've missed you too. But we can't change the past - and you've given me the freedom to be with you once again."

"How?" Link whispers miserably.

Mipha tilts Link's chin up and kisses her. It tastes like fresh water and air and static, and Link can feel her injuries healing, wounds closing, bruises fading. "I can give you my healing gift," she whispers, one hand still on Link's cheek, their foreheads still pressed together. "I told you that I'd always protect you. Now I always will."

Link smiles tearfully. "Thank you."

One hundred years. For one hundred years, she has been trapped, waiting, steadily losing hope. She has not had the courtesy of sleep; Mipha has been alert and awake for a century, waiting for Link. The silence between them is comfortable, but it's a silence with an end to it; Link cannot stay here, with the dead.

"Tell my father that I am now at peace," she whispers. "Tell my brother that I am proud of who he has become. Take care of him. Take care of Princess Zelda. And - take care of yourself, Link."

They kiss, one last time. And Mipha and Vah Ruta dissolve from her sight.

She opens her eyes to find herself in the Domain, the King gazing down at her, the rest of the population gathering and listening. They thank her, praise the work she has done; they grant her Mipha's own weapon, the Lightscale Trident.

She tells the King, alone, how his daughter died, passes on her final message. And then she leaves to find Sidon.

He's gazing up at the statue of his sister; Link finds herself smiling softly, sadly, at the carved expression. "Mipha," Sidon sighs, and Link starts. "Dear sister. Are you supporting Link in this fight? Is there really nothing more I can do? I wish you were here to guide me..." His eyes close. "I miss you, so much..."

"She's proud of you," Link says quietly, and Sidon starts so violently it would almost be comical in another setting. "She asked me to tell you that - that she was proud of the person you grew up to be."

"You, ah - heard all that, eh?" All the bravado gone, Sidon smiles only weakly. "I'm afraid you caught me in a moment of vulnerability. But - thank you. Again."

They stand in companionable silence. Sidon is tall enough that when Link leans in to him, she finds her head resting against the dip between ribs and hips; he hesitates once and then lets his hand settle on her shoulder.

"While we're being vulnerable," Link says, and she does not meet Sidon's gaze; instead meets Mipha's, to tell her too, "Ah - I'm a girl. Everyone looks at me and sees a man, but I'm not. You should know. Mipha should have, too."

Sidon blinks in surprise, then nods. "Of course. In that case, you are no longer the finest man I know, but rather the finest woman." He grins, and this time, it's a true one.

Link grins back, and rests her small hand on his own.

"Incidentally," she adds, and she's definitely blushing now, "I spoke to Mipha when I was in Vah Ruta. A lot. She kept me company. And I told her. About the - the - you know. The kiss." Ducking her head, Link brushes her fingers over the slate for strength. "She, uh. She said 'good taste must run in the family', and, uh - to take care of you."

"Oh. Uh. _Oh_."

It's very unfair that Sidon has naturally dark red skin. If he's blushing, he's not showing it _nearly_ as much as Link.

"Well," Sidon says, and his voice squeaks just a little bit. "In that case, why don't we find somewhere to talk?" He squeezes Link's shoulder, just gently. "I think," he says, "We will have a lot to talk about..."


	8. Memory 13: Slumbering Power

"So where will you go next?" Sidon asks lazily, the two of them secluded away from the world in his chambers.

Link makes a non-committal sound. "I'm not sure - ooh, a little to the right? - I was thinking of going up to - yes, right _there_ \- up to Akkala to see someone who's worked with Purah - oh Goddess, you're so good at that."

Link can't see Sidon's face, but she's pretty sure he's grinning. "Mm, so I've been told. Then what, across to Eldin?"

"I'm not sure," Link muses. "Maybe striking south, then west to Gerudo. I can train more on the way - oh, do that again!"

Sidon obliges; Link shivers in delight. "Come see me on the way back down, then?" he says, "I'd like to see you again. Make sure that you're safe."

Link shoots a grin over her shoulder. "Keep giving back rubs like that, and you won't be able to keep me away."

Laughing, Sidon presses his thumbs against Link's shoulder blades. "I have been told I'm good with my hands!" Shaking his head, he peers over Link's head at the map again, making a thoughtful sound. "What part of Akkala is this person in? I know Lake Akkala and Torin Wetlands well enough - I could accompany you if you want -"

It's tempting, so tempting, and Link worries at her lip for a moment before finally shaking her head. "No, I'll be okay. You're needed here in the Domain." She smiles, a little sadly. "I'll come back and see you on the way down, though. I promise."

Zora's Domain is a sanctuary. She needs to keep it that way, to ensure that Sidon remains safe, that no harm comes to him or his home. She needs to know that she'll have somewhere to return to afterwards. A home, of sorts.

It's a sunny morning when she leaves the Domain, a pack full of food and elixirs, her weapons sharp and ready, supplies renewed. Sidon accompanies her as far as Toto Lake; from the top of the peak she turns back, waves, and steps forward in to Akkala. She stays on the road, straying only to check out the odd shrine (and, in one alarming incident, a Great Fairy Fountain), and reaches the Eastern Akkala stables by nightfall.

The Akkala Ancient Technology Lab is not far from the stables. But what is more interesting is the presence of Pikango, the painter staying in Kakariko, and his recognition of one of the photos she has on her Slate.

There is another memory to be found, here.

She stays overnight at the stables, gazing up at the ceiling, unable to find sleep. Outside is wind and light rain, nothing too serious, just the sounds of nature. She can't hear any monsters nearby. She should be able to sleep, and she can't.

It's anxiety about the next memory, really. In the dark, she feels for the slate and gazes at the picture again; it doesn't stir anything, she doesn't know what she will find there. What if she feels nothing? What if she does?

The first memory she had searched for had hurt. She had gazed upon the faces of old friends, and had known then that they were dead. Seeing Mipha's statue, remembering Mipha, that had brought pain. What would this bring?

She leaves in the morning with her heart heavy.

It's not a long trip - she can almost see the location from the stables, and keeps her gaze fixed on it as she pushes through long grass and misting rain. Nearby, she can see red lights; warily, she keeps a wide berth, and is relieved to see that she had when she spots that they're attached to flying Guardians. Skywatchers, according to the Slate; she would rather not cross paths with them.

It starts raining more heavily. Link leaps down to the spring nonetheless, gliding down to a good flat stretch, gazing up at the immense statue there.

She's - she's not feeling anything, looking up at the statue. It matches the photo, of course; she can hold the Slate up and match it perfectly. But Link feels nothing from it, no spark of memory.

She bites her lip. At the Gate, she hadn't remembered until she had turned around, gazed at the environment around her instead. Eyes half closed, she does, taking a few tentative steps away from the statue, towards the walls that surround the spring.

Her eyes shut more tightly. The smell of the trees that surround them; the texture of stone beneath her boots. The sound of wind, the movement of water.

"I come seeking help," she can hear Zelda saying, and shuts her eyes, and lets herself remember.

She remembers Zelda pouring her heart out. She remembers Zelda begging, begging to understand, for guidance, for this power to manifest. She remembers the sound of Zelda's palms slapping against the water in her frustration and desperation.

She remembers Zelda begging, "Please, just tell me - what is it?" She remembers her tears, the tears heavy in her voice, as she pleads, "What's wrong with me?!"

The Princess had been so afraid, so uncertain. So sure that she was a failure. So sure that her inability to find her magic had been her fault.

Link lets out a wordless cry, scoops up a rock at her feet, and spins, hurling it at the statue of the Goddess.

"Damn you!" she shouts, and hears the echo of Zelda's voice, the same words, soft and plaintive and hurting. " _Damn you_!"

Her eyes have filled with tears, mixing with the rain on her face.

"She gave you everything!" Link's voice is raised, her hands balled in fists, releasing her rage at the silent statue. "She devoted her _life_ to this power! How dare you make her feel like there was something wrong with her? How _dare_ you make her feel like a failure?!"

Her anger fizzles and weakens. Exhausted, she drops to the stone, draws her legs up to her chest and hugs them to her. "She thought she had failed everyone," she whispers, and lets out a shaken laugh. "She's been holding Calamity Ganon for a hundred years. She's the strongest person I've ever met and I don't even remember what her face looks like."

The rain gives her no reply.


	9. Memory 8: A Premonition

The first time Link remembers Zelda properly - not pleading to the Goddess, not crushed by defeat, but as herself, a regular girl - she's exploring the lower fringes of Death Mountain.

Above her, the volcano thunders and roars. Here, the land is quiet, calm. Red rock, blue sky, Hyrule spread below Link's feet.

She gazes out at the view, at the swirling malice around the castle and the green fields and blue mountains beyond it. And then she looks inwards, her eyes closed, her senses prickling. She knows the shape of those rocks, the way the sky spreads above them. She can remember fighting, her muscles itching in sympathy; she can remember sharp but manageable pain.

And she remembers gazing at Zelda, gazing into her eyes (green, such a clear, cool green) as Zelda inspected Link's injuries.

There had been fighting here. Lizalfos, Bokoblins and Moblins. Lynels. Her previous self had slain armies.

Zelda had feared the assault of monsters had been an omen, a premonition of ruin, a sign that Calamity Ganon would soon arrive. But she had been confident then, prepared to do whatever it took to stop them, and this was the Zelda that Link was beginning to remember.

She had remembered her vulnerable and afraid. But there was strength there, too. Her earlier words to the Goddess statue had been true - Zelda was strong, stronger than most would expect.

And Link is learning more of herself, of her own past. She had been reckless, leaping into the fray. She had taken down armies, enemies that she wouldn't have even dreamed attempting as she was now. She was quiet - in all her memories, Link cannot remember herself speaking. She had followed Zelda, always.

She had been afraid, and that fear had existed uneasily with her actions in the battlefield.

Link settles down against the sun-warmed stone, gazes into the blue.

She just can't work it out. Mipha - clearly, she had been in a relationship with Mipha, and her heart still aches with love and loss every time she remembers her. Sidon, too, is a comfort and a joy; she feels warm and at peace whenever she thinks of him, sees him.

And Zelda...

Princess Zelda is an enigma. Link knows she was dedicated to protecting her - it was her role as chosen knight, as the Hylian Champion. She knows the princess was in turn bright and confident, and lost in despair and fear. Faith in her companions and their skills, doubt in her own.

She just doesn't remember enough of her to start putting the pieces together.

And for her own emotions towards her, she just can't put it together. It's maddening - there's devotion and frustration, warmth and hurt. Did she love Zelda? She can't remember, can't remember touches of hands and secret smiles. Her own feelings towards Mipha are not shaded by infidelity; she knows their relationship was strong, that she trusted Mipha and Mipha trusted her in turn, and that that trust was genuine.

But those golden hair and clear green eyes are written in her heart.

She loved, loves Mipha. She is fairly certain she loves Sidon as well. And Zelda - 

Yes, she thinks she may have loved Zelda, too.

Grumbling at herself, Link pushes herself up and starts trudging down the the mountain. If she wants to reach Zora's Domain by nightfall, she'll have a lot of walking to do. She'll likely spend the entire time there alternating between fighting and brooding; she'd almost prefer the fighting, to distract her from her own thoughts.

It's well after midnight by the time she arrives at the Domain (via, unintentionally, Ralis Pond and an encounter with a Hinox that has left her regretfully wide awake). Unable to sleep and unwilling to bother Kayden at such a late hour, Link settles, just for a while, in the courtyard. Mipha will watch over her, she knows; she gazes up at the statue and smiles.

When Sidon settles beside her, wrapping a long arm companionably around her shoulders, she finds herself curling into his side, cool skin against her cheek. She could fall asleep like this, just the two of them, sitting in peaceful silence. She wouldn't mind even the aching back the next day.

"I remembered what Zelda looks like," she mumbles, eyes starting to close. "And I yelled at a goddess."

"I would not expect anything less of you," Sidon says with a laugh in his voice, and gentle fingers run through her hair. "Sleep easily now, Link. You're safe here with me."'

Link yawns. "I'm not tired," she says, exhales deeply, and drifts off to sleep.


	10. Memory 16: Despair

It's fair to say that Link is not in a good mood.

She had left the sanctuary of Zora's Domain earlier in the morning and had headed southwest, towards the desert. Of course, it would be a long route, the expanse of the Lanayru wetlands, Necluda, and Faron to cross first. The wetlands, at least, are behind her and she is no more worse for wear for it; she had made it to the Wetland stable and slept with the good smell of horses and livestock around her.

Pikango had been there with another hint towards a photo, the last photo in her collection. It had sent her across the river, where she had somehow managed to get herself magnificently lost, had almost stumbled across a Hinox, and had instead found herself in what must be the Bottomless Swamp - a toxic collection of sticking mud, dead trees, and the alarming red-black corruption she had seen inside Vah Ruta.

Taking a few hours to (carefully) explore and cross the swamplands, she had then spotted a shrine, had nearly been killed by a very alarming woman who was very protective over her flowers, and had finally made it to the forest she was supposed to go to in the first place.

And then the skies had opened up.

Now, she takes what shelter she can find, burrowed in a hollow beneath the roots of an enormous, old tree. But she's still soaked to the skin, the stench of the swamp making her gag, shivering, hungry, and the food she had prepared at the stables a sodden mess, a single apple not sufficient to ease the gnawing pit in her stomach.

It's not exactly conducive to remember the past when she's so caught up in her own misery.

Tomorrow, she's due to start back towards Kakariko for a brief moment of rest and sanctuary. From then on, she'll follow the road to the Dueling Plains stable on Blatchery Plain, then take the road through the mountains to Lake Hylia. From there, the Plateau where she had awakened stands in her path; she'll go north or south, skirt around it, and from there - from there, she'll reach Gerudo.

But that, of course, depends entirely on whether she'll ever get out of this blasted forest without being washed away to sea.

Grumpily, Link tucks her legs in close to her chest, curls further into the roots of the tree, and attempts to sleep.

 

Link's chest hurts.

They've been running, running for what feels like hours, and her breath is ragged in her throat, legs continuing to _run, move, escape_. One gloved hand is wrapped around another's, trembling even as they run; her sword is bare in her other hand.

It's raining, raining like the sky is weeping and will never stop.

There's a soft, ragged cry; the hand slips from her own. Momentum carries her forward, skidding in the wet grass; she turns to see Zelda crumpled on the ground.

Her hair is a dangled mess, sodden around her face. The pristine white dress is torn and muddied. She is bruised, filthy, defeated.

Link is not much better. Sheathing the sword, she crouches in front of the princess.

"How?" Zelda whispers, her voice barely audible over the rain and wind, fingers curling into the wet grass. "How did it come to this?"

_Guardians lighting up in red and blue, malice seeping from the ground -_

_Castle Town, burning -_

_The Divine Beasts freezing, turning inwards, turning against their pilots -_

Mipha is in one of those things!

"The Divine Beasts," Zelda says, and her voice cracks. "The Guardians - they've all turned against us - _Calamity Ganon_ ," she almost hisses, "It turned them all against us!"

Zelda lifts her head, slowly, like it weighs a thousand tons, and Link can see the tears in her eyes through her own.

"And everyone - Mipha, Urbosa, Revali, Daruk - they're all trapped inside those things -"

_Mipha's smile, Mipha's determination, Mipha with her eyes clear and her trident in her hand as she departs for Vah Ruta -_

"It's all my fault!"

It's not. It's not, and Link can't even force the words out, because a small, shameful, terribly afraid part is thinking, what if? What if Zelda _had_ been able to access her birthright?

Would it have all gone so, so badly?

"Our only hope for defeating Ganon is lost all because I couldn't harness this cursed power!" Zelda chokes out, burying her face in her hands, and that small part in Link twists hard, makes her bite her lip hard.

"Everything - everything I've done up until now - it was all for nothing... so I really am just a failure!"

The words come out in a wail. Her green eyes are bright with tears, dark with anger and hatred turned inwards. No one could possibly hate Zelda more than Zelda hates herself. The small, shameful part in Link's chest fizzles out. 

She longs to comfort her, to brush back the tangles in her sunshine hair, to wipe her tears away and tell her that it'll be okay, it'll be okay.

It's not. It's not okay, but if it makes Zelda smile again, if it helps…

"All my friends - the entire kingdom - my _father_ \- I tried, and I failed them all -" Her voice cracks, fades into a whisper. "I've left them all to die."

She can't possibly hold all of that grief, all of that blame, all of that self-loathing inside. When Zelda crumples, Link is there to catch her, pressing her cheek against the crown of Zelda's hair. The princess weeps in her arms, and Link finally lets her own tears begin to fall.

Mipha is trapped.

The castle and its town are in ruins.

Calamity Ganon is back.

But they're alive. They're still so alive, and she holds Zelda until both their tears stop and then she rises, holds out her hand.

"Come on," she says in a voice rusty from infrequent use. "Come on, we have to go." She draws in a breath as Zelda lifts her head and gazes up at her, looks at her like she's seeing her for the first time.

"Come on," she says again, and helps Zelda to her feet. "We have work to do."

 

Link opens her eyes.

They are glassy, glazed with tears; she can remember it all. The rain, the injuries, the crushing, hopeless despair, the knowledge that they had lost, that tiny, terrible part that looked at Zelda and thought that she should have done more.

Mipha and the other Champions had been lost, that day. Now, Mipha's spirit is free, but the others - the others are still waiting.

And Zelda. She is inside the castle. She is waiting too.

Whatever had happened between the moment in the forest and whatever had happened to entomb Link in the Shrine of Resurrection and Zelda in the castle is still lost to her, still a blur that leaves her sick with anxiety. Whatever had happened, it would not have been good. Link had nearly gone to her death, and Zelda - 

Zelda is waiting. The Champions are waiting.

Link staggers to her feet, and sets off for Kakariko.

She has work to do.


	11. Memory 1: Subdued Ceremony

Link has, quite accidentally, come over all domestic.

It's not like she was intending the distraction. But the latest memory she has retrieved, one of the earliest, has proven that she does not even remotely hold a candle to her old self.

Her former self had already claimed the Master Sword, the Blade of Evil's Bane, and even now she can remember the feel of it in her hand like an extension of her own arm. The memory, of herself kneeling before Zelda with the sword on her back, was not of the words so much as the sensation, of the feeling of belonging with the sword that she still needs to reclaim; she knows she has to be strong to be able to take it back.

And so she has been training, seeking out the shrines, growing stronger, better able to fight the opponents she knows she was once able to take down as easily as breathing. And while she has been training, she has found a place to settle down.

Kakariko still feels like a home away from home, and indeed, she's there regularly, sparring with the guards, helping little girls cook, running errands. But Hateno Village is becoming her actual home - up to and including her own house.

They were going to demolish it. Better that she could claim it for herself, have a place to rest her head, to take shelter. She mounts Mipha's trident up on one of the walls, because it's one of the last tangible remnants Link has of her and she does not want to see it broken or lost, keeps other finds stashed beneath the stairs, and lies down at night in her own bed.

And now she has a home to return to.

"Morning, Link! You're up early!"

And the people there know her by name.

"Morning, Leop!"

Slinging the back of mushrooms over her shoulder, she gives the old man a welcoming smile; he grins back toothlessly. "Been doing your foraging, eh? Did you leave any for the rest of us?"

"Of course," she says with a laugh, although little Retsam Forest is surprisingly abundant for its size. "You were looking for sunshrooms for the inn kitchen, right? There's a whole bunch up there."

He nods once. "Good, good. I'll send the girl off later. Have a good day!"

She waves him off and sets off on her way again, pausing to snag an apple off a low branch for little Narah, who can't quite reach them on her own. The noise of the village is starting to fall back behind her as she treks up the path to the strange model homes; by the time she's crossing the bridge to the house, all she can hear are her footsteps, the birds, the wind.

Stash the mushrooms away to cook later on; kick off her sturdy boots and collect the tin to water the new trees Bolson has planted for her outside, barefoot in the grass. Once it's done, strip off and bathe in the shallow part of the pond under the tree, rinsing dust and sweat and a bit of blood from her hair and skin. There's no one around, but still, bolt back inside, because there's cold air rolling off the nearby mountain. Dry off, dress, and head back outside to cook the mushrooms, steaming them in fragrant leaves, tossing them in the wild rice she collects around town, seasoned with wild herbs and pinches of salt.

Perfect.

When the sun is higher in the sky, she will set off again. For now, she's happy with cooking her mushrooms and rice for breakfast, with preparing a few boiled eggs, steamed greens, and mushroom skewers for lunch. She thinks she might head up Mount Lanayru; there's some interesting-looking trees that may lead to a shrine, and yes, a part of her dearly wants to see if she can find the Spring of Wisdom.

Link can't remember it. Just the outcome, just Zelda's bowed head, the softness of her voice as she admits that, once again, she had failed.

It's snowing, up on the mountain. Link winces, and starts sauteing some peppers too - somehow, she doesn't think the quilted tunic she had got from the old king will cut it.

She's doing this in bits and pieces, based on intuition and blind luck. Starting at the beginning had meant sneaking into Hyrule Field, barely managing to catch a glimpse of the courtyard in the photo, to feel the oppressive energy, before the Guardians had attacked. She had barely escaped; she could not fight them. The memories have fallen by the wayside as she has trained, learned to fight, learned to take them down from a distance and then from closer up.

They still scare her. Something in her sees the Guardians and feels fury and betrayal and sheer, unrelenting terror. These days, when she travels between Hateno and Kakariko, she keeps a wide, wide berth from Blatchery Plain. Her nightmares are of the plain crawling with Guardians, all focused on her, and when she wakes wide-eyed and gasping, she knows they're not just dreams.

Maybe, one day, when all this is long past, she can relax in the sun and cook delicious foods and never have to face a Guardian ever, ever again.

For now, she trains. For now, she grows stronger, better able to fight. The woods near her home have been clear of Bokoblin for days now.

When she returns inside, she brushes her fingers lightly across the metal of Mipha's trident. Mipha's soul is free, and Vah Ruta has been reclaimed, but she knows that there are three more champions, three more Divine Beasts, left to free.

They're waiting for her. Zelda is waiting for her.

West, she decides with a sudden firmness. Today, she will go up the mountain and see what she can find.

Tomorrow, she will go west, to the desert, to Vah Naboris, to her destiny.


	12. Memories 11 and 3: Shelter; Resolve, Grief

_"Would you have chosen a different path?"_

The words resonate through her head.

_"Would you have chosen a different path?"_

Zelda had sounded so tired, so resigned. Link can't remember everything that had led up to the question, but she remembers that Zelda had been tired.

It had been storming; Link remembers the trickle of rainwater down her back as she practices her form, slices through the air. There is thunder in the distance, but they are safe enough on the hill under the tree, the lake spread beneath their feet.

Link had practiced, and Zelda had asked.

It was a hypothetical, she had known at the time. Zelda had had doubts about her own path, Link knew that, she knew that she had questioned every day whether she really was the Princess of Legend, the one chosen to wield the sealing power. She had framed the question to make it about Link, to ask if she truly was meant to be a knight, a fighter, or if she would choose a different path, had circumstances been different.

Link has the vaguest memories of her father, of a gentle man with steel in his hands, wrapping Link's little ones around the hilt of a practice sword. She had been training for knighthood since she could toddle; it was unsurprising that she had excelled at it.

And Zelda had been told, again and again almost since the moment of birth, that the sealing power laid within her. That it was destiny that she should learn to wield it. That it was her birthright.

Zelda had questioned it, had asked Link indirectly if she would have chosen her own path had she been able to, had confided without direct words that she had felt that tearing between destiny and choice.

It's ironic, Link decides as she presses on westwards. Zelda had asked questions of herself via Link, but the question she had asked did indeed raise the same one in Link's mind.

If she had not been born to the Royal Guard, if she had not been taught to use a sword as soon as she could toddle, would she have become a Knight, a Champion, a Hero?

Link likes to think that maybe, if she had been raised as an ordinary girl in an ordinary village elsewhere in Hyrule, she might have become a chef.

Maybe she still can be, once all of this is over. She'll forage for mushrooms and pick wild herbs and go fishing in the river, she'll work in her kitchen in Hateno, or outside at the cook pot under the tree, or maybe visit Kakariko and help little Koko, and make delicious foods to feed herself and her friends and loved ones, at calm, at peace, no more Calamity hanging over their heads.

(Link remembers being small, being in a kitchen that was loud and friendly and full of delicious smells, of the cooks chuckling and petting her on the head and sneaking her a piece of fruit cake, "But don't tell your father!". Cooking is home, comfort, familiarity. She remembers sitting on a high, high wall with the courtyard beneath her feet and the juice and crunch of an apple; she remembers the sun warming her back.)

Zelda loved fruit cake. Probably still does. The first thing Link makes for her when they're finally free will be that.

(The Great Plateau rises before her. Link hesitates, north or south, before choosing to skirt north around it. She won't make it to the desert before night falls, but it'll definitely be a start.)

_Would_ Zelda like fruit cake? The memories rise as she finds a spot to camp for the night by a lake; they had walked here, the two of them, making their way to Goron City. She remembers the sun in Zelda's hair as she had studied the slate; it tingles in her hands as she studies the photo that Zelda had paused to take.

Zelda had turned to her, half hidden behind her hair, and had asked if Link had known what she was doing.

There was a voice in the sword she held; a voice that Zelda had not yet believed she could hear. And perhaps Zelda was right, because Link had never heard anything more than whispers, the softest, least intelligible whispers.

Had Zelda doubted her? She did not yet remember the earliest details of their relationship, save for the ceremony in the castle courtyard, and that had been formal, deliberately distant, a veil drawn across them; Princess and Champion, not Zelda and Link.

Link remembered walking this path with Zelda, and she remembered the distance between them had not just been physical.

What had changed? What had made them go from strangers, bound together by duty and by their resolve to protect Hyrule, to friends united in companionship and hope, despair and grief?

Link camps in the forest overnight; sets out at first light, past the ruins of the Coliseum, across the bridge (holding her breath as she steals past the Hinox; they don't need to fight today). The walls of Gerudo Canyon rise up around her and she knows that she's approaching the next stop in the journey, although whether it'll be a direct path or a longer one, like the winding, rain-soaked road and rather dangerous game of Dodge The Lynel that the path to Vah Ruta had taken, she's still not sure.

She fights Bokoblins, helps accidentally rescue people. There's a stable up ahead, they say, and it's a relief because it's already dark in the canyon, the sun still in the sky but already well below the canyon walls.

There's another shrine near the stables; she taps the slate to it and leaves it for the morning. The map she pores over at the stables show that she is not far - the road beyond plunges straight into the desert, first to an oasis and then on to Gerudo Town.

Link settles in her bed for the night, clinging to the slate, a photo of an oasis spread across its screen, and sleeps until the morning comes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for the delay! I lost a fair bit of momentum after, well, finishing the game, but I am still absolutely determined to finish Link's story, and am hoping that the DLC release helps get me back on track.


	13. Memory 7: Blades of the Yiga

Link isn't one hundred percent sure, but she's fairly certain she's about to melt.

She's already removed her boots, gloves, and arm wraps; her pant legs are rolled up to her knees and undershirt sleeves up to her elbows. She's giving serious thought whether she should just ditch either undershirt or tunic; even bathing her sore feet in the oasis isn't doing much to relieve the omnipresent, oppressive heat that marks the desert.

Kara Kara Bazaar is only halfway to Gerudo Town, where she's fairly certain she's meant to find the leader. If she's going to press on to the desert proper, she's going to need some protection from the heat.

One of the Gerudo at the bazaar gives her a smirk. "Are you alright, kid?"

"I think I'm dying," she says, and flops back in the sand pathetically.

The Gerudo laughs and offers her a slice of melon. "On the house," she says with a nod. "Hydromelon is pretty essential if you're planning the trek across the desert - although if you're planning on going to Gerudo Town, I'll stop you right now. Voe aren't allowed in."

Link cracks open an eye. "Voe?"

"Men," she confirms, and Link wilts a little.

"Oh." Her voice is soft, defeated. "I actually am a girl, though. I mean - I know I don't look it, but -"

The Gerudo lets out a thoughtful hum, rocking back on her heels. "You don't look it," she agrees, but she's gazing down at Link like she's a puzzle. Then, she chuckles. "You know what? I think you need to meet Vilia." Gesturing, she lifts an arm to the top of the inn, where Link can just see someone perched on top. "She's up there. A Hylian vai - that means 'woman' in your language - with long red hair, dressed in Gerudo clothing. Go have a talk - you'll find it interesting, I think."

"Vilia," Link repeats, a thoughtful frown on her lips. "Okay. Thank you, I will."

The climb is surprisingly pleasant; this high up, while hot, the breeze is better than the stale, scorching air of the desert. Barefoot and barehanded, there's the faintest stirring of memory - a childhood in the castle, scrambling up trees and walls and ladders, giggling as she hides from the guards marching below - and Link smiles, pulling herself up the last few stretches.

The sun is just beginning to dip below the horizon, and the light catches the figure standing there, wind in her hair.

"Excuse me," Link calls as she takes a few steps forward, "Are you Vilia?"

The woman turns to her and smiles, mouth hidden by a veil but her eyes crinkling. "Oh, my," she says. "Yes, that's me. Do you need something?"

Link nods once. "The lady down there," she says, and gestures vaguely downwards, "Told me to talk to you. Um, I need to go to Gerudo Town, and, uh -" Reaching up, she tugs at her ponytail sheepishly. "She said they don't let voe in, and, well, I look like one, but I really need to go..."

Vilia sets a hand on her hip, studying Link thoughtfully. "Yes, I see what you mean," she nods once. "Although appearances, of course, can be deceiving! What do you think of my clothes?"

"You look lovely in them," Link says, honestly and sincerely. "Also, your eye make up is pretty."

Laughing out loud, Vilia nods once. "A born flatterer!" she exclaims. "Well, I'm a merchant, and now that I think about it, this style would look quite fetching on you. I _just so happen_ to be carrying some lovely clothes in your size. How do you feel about teal?"

Link blinks once. "Sure?"

She chuckles again. "I'd have to charge you, of course. But, I'd bet people would see you completely differently if you wore them."

There's a teasing note in her voice; Link parts with six hundred rupees and finds her arms laden with soft, silky cloth.

It's a pretty outfit; loose, dusky-coloured pants that come to mid calf, a green shirt that wraps snugly around her chest and shows her stomach, arms covered in almost translucent teal fabric. There are slippers, an anklet, a waist wrap, and a fancy belt; gold ties fasten at the wrists and thicker bangles around her biceps, there's a veil, a scarf for her hair, and something almost like a tiara to tie it together.

It's cool and silky and comfortable; Link brushes her hands down the shirt and gazes down in wonder.

Vilia lets out a squeal of delight. Link feels her face flush pink; she raises her hands to them, partially hidden beneath the veil as they are.

"You look adorable!" Vilia exclaims, making her turn around a few times to see how it fits. "Just as I thought - you make for quite a good-lookin' gal!"

"Thanks," Link almost whispers, ducking her head.

Vilia nods, evidentially pleased with her work. "That's a traditional Gerudo outfit. It's such a striking look around here, I doubt anyone would even suspect that you're a man!"

 _...that you're a man_. Link wilts again, glancing away, her lips twisting in displeasure under the veil.

Neither speak for a long moment. "Or," Vilia says, "Or not. Now, you're going to need to know some Gerudo language - I'll tell you the ones I learned first. 'Sav'otta' means 'good morning'; 'sav'aaq' means 'good day'. 'Sav'saaba' is 'good evening', and to say goodbye, you say 'sav'orq'. 'Thank you' is 'sarqso'." She's smiling, her eyes crinkling again; less delighted, more gentle. "'Voe' means 'man' and 'vai' means 'woman', you already know those ones. And, of course, there's 'vara'voe' and 'vara'vai'. Those ones are very important!"

 _You're a man._ "What are those?" Link asks listlessly. Her gaze is on the stone they're standing on; she's not sure she can remember all the similar-sounding words, anyway.

"Well," Vilia says pointedly, "A vara'vai is someone who was considered to be a voe when they were born, but is really a vai inside, and a vara'voe is the opposite - someone who is a voe inside. Of course, Gerudo Town doesn't let in voe - and _that_ means that vara'voe aren't allowed in, either. Vara'vai, however? We're treated just as any other vai, and we have just as much right to be there as anyone else."

Link lifts her head slowly, all of her attention on Vilia now. She can see the shape of her body, the hint of stubble when the breeze catches her veil; she remembers the Gerudo back on the ground calling her a vai with no hesitation whatsoever. "Someone who is really a vai inside...?" she repeats slowly, the words faltering, hesitant, pushing past the lump of emotion in her throat. "Even though everyone looks at them and thinks they're a voe - there's a word f-for people who - who really are a vai inside?"

The wind blows. There's sand in it, but that's not why her eyes are prickling.

There's a word for it. There's a word for them. There's a word for people like her.

Raising a slim hand, Vilia unhooks her veil and smiles, her teeth bright, her lips painted pink, her beard neatly trimmed. "There's a word for people like us," she says with a gentle smile, and reaches out to squeeze Link's shoulder. "You poor baby, no one's ever told you that before, have they?"

Wordlessly, Link shakes her head.

"It's hard, isn't it?" Vilia's voice is soft. "Knowing that what you are isn't what people see when they look at you. Calling you 'boy' and 'man' and 'voe', wanting desperately to correct them but not knowing the words to do so. My vaba - that means 'grandmother' - is Gerudo, and when I was little, she wouldn't tell me anything about my birthright, because all she saw me as was a boy. The day I knew enough to tell her that I was a vara'vai, she was ecstatic, knowing she had a granddaughter to share her knowledge with. But until then, it's such an isolating experience - not knowing others like you, not even knowing enough to explain it."

"When I woke up," Link says, and her voice cracks; "The first thing I said out loud was 'I'm a girl'. But I think if I remembered the past, I would have never said it."

Vilia gives her a curious look. "I think you have quite a story to tell, young lady," she says warmly. "And while I'd love to hear it, it's nearly night. How about we head down to the inn, and in the morning, I'll show you the way to Gerudo Town?" Smiling again before she covers her face with the veil, she adds, "I can even do your eye make up, if you like."

Link finds herself grinning, even as the world blurs through misty eyes. "I'd like that," she says, and follows Vilia back down the ladder.

They eat; she talks. She tells Vilia about Sidon and the Zora (and her sheepish admission that she's not actually certain that Zora can tell any difference between Hylian men and women in the first place), about the old man who was the king. She speaks of what little she remembers of the past, of being raised as the only son of a member of the Royal Guard, of becoming a knight, of all the expectations upon her. 

_"Would you have chosen a different path?"_

Perhaps she would have, had her story been different. But the story that has already started still does not have an end. Perhaps there is still time to make it her own.

She eats dinner, sleeps, wakes early. Rising from the bed, Link dresses in her new Gerudo clothes and steals out of the inn to practice, to strike the air with her best moves; she gazes at the photo in the slate and remembers a glimpse, a flash of Zelda surrounded by Yiga, Link's body moving like quicksilver to defend her, to protect her princess.

Link copies the moves from her memories, her limbs moving easily in her Gerudo garb.

She's Link. She's the Princess's chosen knight; she's the Hylian Champion. She's a new resident of Hateno and an aspiring chef. She once loved Mipha, she does love Sidon, and she still loves Zelda. She's a vara'vai and she is going to walk straight up to that town and will know she belongs.

She is going to make this story her own.


	14. Memory 6: Urbosa's Hand

It's morning, and Link smiles up at the Gerudo guard outside the town, Vilia's hand on her shoulder.

"Adopting more Hylian waifs, Vilia?" one chuckles, not impolitely, and Link grins and pats the hilt of her sword.

"Who're you calling a waif?"

Vilia laughs. "This is Link," she says, and gives Link's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "She has some important work to do in the town - and indeed, you should have seen her practising with her sword earlier!"

The other guard gives her a speculative look. "A swordswoman, huh? Come by the barracks, if you want - you can do some sparring with our girls."

Link makes a promise to do so, and she and Vilia pass through the gates. The outskirts are residential areas, Sand Seal stables, a few open channels and falls of clear, soft water. There are a few growing areas; the occasional local shop. Ahead, Vilia explains, is the marketplace and its surrounding hustle and bustle, and beyond that is the palace (and, should Link wish to take the guards up on their offer of sparring, the barracks).

And then she sets out to prepare her own stall for the day, and Link is left to explore the town on her own.

It's bustling, loud, crowded. It's not just Gerudo in the marketplace, but others, too - she spots a few Gorons, a Rito, a small handful of Hylians. All Vai, she notes; some in their traditional dress (or lack thereof, in the case of the Gorons), some in Gerudo garb, perfectly adapted to the climate. If the packs they wear and the wares they display are any indication, Gerudo Town is a hub for traders of any kind.

Link still doesn't blend in. But that's more due to the sword and bow and shield on her back, the scars on her shoulders and stomach and calves that the thin Gerudo shirt don't hide. A few of the Gerudo give her appreciative looks, comment on her weapons; one asks her outright if she's heading to the barracks and, if so, would she like to fight later?

And the words they use! "You don't see too many Hylian Vai in here", the shopkeepers say.

"Would you like to buy some arrows, miss?"

"Oh! Young lady, we have voltfruit and hydromelon in fresh! Care to try some?"

Link grins broadly behind her veil, and if any of the shopkeepers take note of her sometimes teary eyes, they politely pretend it's nothing but the heat and sand and glare of light off the bright buildings.

The palace isn't far, though, and Link is not there to shop or to sightsee. Straightening her back and dusting off some stray sand, she lets out her breath and then ascends the stairs, her head held high, like she belongs.

The chief is young - younger than Link, for sure - and although she sits in her throne like it was made for her, her feet don't even reach the floor. Link fixes a smile on her face, hidden as it is behind the veil, and approaches cautiously.

"Yet another traveller," the girl says before Link can even say a word. "How did you get in here?"

Link blinks, then glances back at the doorway. "I walked in through the door?"

The girl grins. "That's fair enough. Come closer. It seems you have something rather interesting there."

Her curiosity piqued, Link approaches, then starts when the imposingly large guard beside the chief slams her spear against the ground. "You stand before Lady Riju, chief of the Gerudo!" she snaps, "Declare your business, but come no closer!"

"Hold on, Buliara," the girl, Riju, says, but her gaze is fixed on Link with an intensity that's a little uncomfortable. "This one appears to be more than a common traveller. You there - what's your name?"

Her eyes are bright green; Link feels like she's staring through her. "My name is Link, Lady Riju," she says as politely as she can, and Riju bites her lip thoughtfully.

"Link..." She nods. "And what is it you've come all the way here to tell me, Link?"

She takes a deep breath, and says, "I can calm Naboris."

Buliara glares at her. "You think you have what it takes to subdue something so powerful as a Divine Beast?" Snorting, she shakes her head. "The only ones who could ever control them were Champions like Lady Urbosa. And all of the Champions died in the Calamity one hundred years ago."

It's a challenge. Link does not intend to lose. "Not all of them," she says, meeting Buliara's gaze head on. "I'm the Hylian Champion. And I've already calmed Ruta."

Riju catches her breath. "The fallen swordsman," she says softly, and stares at Link with renewed interest. "Buliara, a memory just jumped into my head, something my mother spoke of. When the Calamity happened, the princess of Hyrule placed a fallen swordsman into a deep sleep. That swordsman, much like our new friend here, was named Link - though it always seemed more legend than fact."

"It's true," Link says, and smiles ruefully as she reaches for the Sheikah slate. "This is the Sheikah slate I was left. It used to be Princess Zelda's and it was there when I woke up."

"I don't remember ever hearing of a Hylian vai among the Champions," Buliara grumbles, and then Link starts violently as she slams her spear down. "Wait a moment - you're a voe!"

Link opens her mouth to protest, closes it again, tries to blink back the frustrated tears springing to her eyes. After everyone calling her _vai, miss, ma'am_ in the market, it hurts, hurts more than she would have expected; she bites down on her lip.

Riju, however, laughs. "A voe within our walls is a great crime. But a voe who's a Champion? Well, we'd never mistreat a friend of Lady Urbosa. And if you're hear to help us with Naboris, then we're allies."

Smiling weakly, Link speaks up softly, pushing the words out her throat, past the veil. "I'm - I mean - I'm the fallen swordsman, yeah. But I'm not a voe, I'm a vara'vai. Um, if - if that's okay."

Buliara blinks once, then nods. She doesn't actually smile (Link isn't one hundred percent sure she knows how to), but the look she gives Link is at least a bit apologetic. "My mistake. I apologise."

Riju is smiling, running a hand through her hair. "I didn't know, I'm sorry. Next time, we will not be so quick to jump to conclusions."

Link grins back, relief flooding through her veins like sunlight. "It's okay. So, what can you tell me about Naboris?"

Riju leans forward, and tells her about the Thunder Helm.

 

Of course it's the Yiga. It's always the Yiga.

Link has the approximate location, pointed out to her on the map. She has been told of a Gerudo who has disappeared, looking out to find them. She has her mission, and once it's dark, she will set out through the desert to find it.

The desert is scorching hot during the day. If she is to walk far, it will be best to do it in the chill of the night, when movement will keep her warm. Until then, she rests in the hotel, she stocks up on food, she fills Riju in on her plan and tells her about what it took to calm Vah Ruta.

She wonders how Sidon is doing.

They talk, they eat. Link tells stories; Riju tells her own. She's only thirteen, she tells Link; thirteen with the eyes of all the Gerudo on her. Link nods. She nods, and knows how it feels.

As the sun begins its descent, Riju introduces her to her own Sand Seal, a plump and beribboned one named Patricia. It's been a while since she was able to visit Patricia, explains Padda, the Sand Seal's attendant; seeing Riju smile and have hope again is a nice break.

Patricia, apparently, is an oracle. Riju trying not to giggle from the side, Link solemnly offers her an apple, blinking in surprise at the barking that ensues.

"Sand seals can be knocked out by the sound of an explosion. I'm se-" Padda grimaces. "Serious. That was close. She tried to slip a seal pun in there."

Link looks at Padda, then looks at Riju, then looks at Patricia, and grins ear to ear.

"Oh my god," she says, "I love her."

 

It's night when Link sets out to find the Yiga.

It's nearing dawn when she reaches the end of the canyon, tucking herself away in an alcove to snatch some sleep, to be at her very best for what will no doubt be a challenge.

By the next afternoon, she has the Thunder Helm and the wrath of the Yiga after her; despite disliking the sensation of being broken down into light, she uses the slate to bring herself straight back to the town.

She ignores her exhaustion and goes straight for the palace, the Thunder Helm held in both hands. Buliara is visibly impressed; Riju, up on the second floor, gasps in delight when she sees it.

They're similar, she and Riju. They're both trying to live up to the expectations upon them; Riju, to her mother's legacy, Link, to her own past self.

"Um. How do I look?" Riju asks tentatively, the family heirloom slipping over her ears.

Like Urbosa, Link wants to say, the words caught in her throat. She's small, she's a child, she's not a Champion. But she can see Urbosa in Riju, the Urbosa she remembers.

Standing at Link's back during the ceremony. Protecting and comforting Zelda after their failure up on Mount Lanayru. Gazing out at the desert from Naboris' observation lounge, Zelda resting in her arms, Zelda exhausted, Zelda beating herself against the rocks to try and live up to her own family history.

Urbosa protects Zelda like a mother; Riju will go to the same lengths for the Gerudo.

"What's wrong?" Riju asks, and Link snaps back to the real world. "You're just staring..."

"Sorry," Link says, shaking her head to clear the cobwebs. "I was just remembering something."

Riju nods, and the helm slips a little. "Right, right. Anyway, what matters now, is - how - how is it? Do I look alright?"

She looks like a girl with too much weight on her shoulders; Link smiles ruefully. "It's a tad big."

The helm slips to one side with a clunk. "You don't say," Riju says dryly, then smiles. "It's getting dark, and no doubt you've had a long day. I'll put you up in the guest quarters. And, tomorrow..."

She gazes out at the sands, thirteen years old and with the weight of her legacy on her shoulders.

"Tomorrow," she says, and lifts the helm from her head, simply Riju once more, "We will put this right."


	15. Urbosa's Fury

In life, Urbosa had served somewhat as a mother figure for the younger ones - for Link, for Mipha, for Revali; for Zelda, especially.

Even in death, she still carries that role.

It's not quite the same experience as with Mipha, with all the intimacy their former relationship had. But Urbosa watches out for Link at every turn within the insides of Vah Naboris, offers advice and encouragement, and, when the times are more calm, companionship and conversation.

"You've almost got it," she says, and Link can hear the smile in her voice. "You just need to roll the R a little more - Na _bor_ is."

"Naboris," Link mutters under her breath, "Na _bor_ is - like that?"

"Exactly! You'll be talking like a Gerudo in no time!"

Link grins, jumping over a conduit with ease. "I've been learning - bits and pieces," she huffs, "From when I was in town. Sav'otta, sav'aaq, sav'saaba, stuff like that. Voe, and vai." The briefest of hesitations, but she knows, she remembers Urbosa well enough, she knows that there will be no harm in telling her. "And - vara'vai. That's an important one."

Urbosa chuckles, warm and reassuring. "You know, I had a feeling," she says gently. "Just an inkling. The way you looked whenever someone called you a young man."

The giant end of Naboris' main chamber is rotating, Link scrambles atop one of the segments - there. "I never said anything, though - I didn't even know what it meant. That there were other people like me."

A careful leap; she lands cleanly in the doorway.

"And everyone looked at me and saw - I don't know, a knight and a champion, but one who was a boy. And I never said anything because there was so much expectation on me." She sighs, the puff of air ruffling her bangs. "But when I woke up without any memories, the first person I met was - he was the spirit of King Rhoam. He called me a young man. And the first thing I said was, 'I'm a girl'."

"Identity without expectation," Urbosa muses. "You were able to express your true self without worrying about how others saw you. I can see how that would be - there's a Malice eye in the next room - how that would be liberating."

Link sends an arrow neatly into the Malice eye, and hurries through the doorway it was blocking. "Yeah. And now I do know." She's smiling, even as she makes her way through the Divine Beast. "And I can tell people. And - it was so nice in the town. Everyone called me Miss or Young Lady. I mean, I bet they saw that - that my chest is flat and I don't have any curves, but they didn't care."

"I'm glad," Urbosa says, and Link can hear her smile in return. "Vara'vai are our sisters, our mothers, our daughters, and our wives. So long as you are amongst Gerudo, you will always have a place to be yourself."

_So long as you are amongst Gerudo..._ "What about Hylians?" Link asks softly. "I'm living in Hateno, and - I mean, people still call me a boy."

Urbosa doesn't answer immediately, but when she does, it's with a sigh. "I don't know," she admits. "A hundred years ago, they were - not quite of the same mind as the Gerudo. Things may have changed, certainly - a hundred years is a long time. But I'm sorry, Link. I cannot reassure you."

"It's okay," Link says, smiling tiredly. "I'll figure it out. And if I do need a change, there's always the desert." She exhales. "The new chief - she's only thirteen, but I think she's going to be a wonderful ruler. Her name is Riju."

"I will watch over her as much as I can," Urbosa smiles in return. "And over you."

Link fights on; Urbosa continues to advise and protect her. She switches on the terminals, fights the Thunderblight that stole Urbosa's life a hundred years earlier. And then Urbosa is there, smiling at her, congratulating her.

Urbosa gives her a gift, a weapon, a way to protect herself. Link snaps her fingers and _power_ courses through her, lightning raining down around her.

" _Cool_ ," she breathes, and Urbosa laughs before becoming serious again.

"Both you and the princess," she says solemnly, "I know you've suffered much regarding what happened to us. But this is how things had to happen. No one need carry the blame. So please, make it clear so she understands that."

Link can't remember a queen, can't remember if Zelda has a mother. But she also knows that Urbosa has taken that role, and that her lingering regrets centre on the princess; Link nods, because she will not allow Zelda to blame herself, hate herself for what happened.

_"It's all my fault!"_

"I'll tell her," Link says quietly. "I promise."

Urbosa smiles, sadly, gently. "Tell her to shed any worries. And let her know... I couldn't be more proud of her."

The magic begins to whisper around her; Link can feel her grasp on the physical plane melting away.

"You take good care of the princess," Urbosa calls, and smiles, "And also - take good care of Hyrule."

"I will," Link swears. "Sarqso, Urbosa. Sav'orq."

And the magic takes her away.

 

The magic deposits Link neatly in the throne room; Riju starts to see energy melting into Link's form. Sheepishly, she realises she's still in her battle gear, and not the Gerudo garb she would wear in the town; Link smiles nonetheless.

"You're back!" Riju exclaims, her eyes wide. "Are you okay? Does this mean Naboris is no longer a threat?"

"I'm fine," Link smiles, although really, she could do with a bath, a solid meal (or three), and a long night's sleep. "Naboris has been returned to Lady Urbosa's control. It's safe now."

Riju sits back with a sigh of relief. "I'm glad. I'm still worried about the larger threat to Hyrule, but at least we won't be troubled by Naboris any more."

They offer her gifts - Urbosa's scimitar, and her shield. Link traces the pattern on the shield and smiles; she knows that the scimitar will find a home right besides Mipha's trident in her Hateno home, that the shield will stay on the wall where it will be protected.

Once, they were weapons. Now, they are memories, and she will not allow harm to come to them.

Riju sees her to the guest quarters, where Link can bathe and get changed, rest, and (if she so desires) prepare for the feast that will take place that night. But Link is exhausted, in body and in mind; Riju instead has good food sent up to her, breads and cheeses and fruits, a pitcher of cool, clear water (and oh dear, she seems to be a bit dehydrated after a day in Naboris), a plate of Gerudo sweets.

Link sits on the end of the plush bed, an apple in her hand, and almost involuntarily sinks back into the soft mattress, the silky fabrics gentle against her skin.

She's asleep before she knows it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the delay! I got a bit caught up with Camp NaNoWriMo in July, but hopefully we should be getting back to more regular updates!


	16. Memory 5: Zelda's Resentment

After the heat and dryness of the desert, after the biting wind of southern Tabantha, Zora's Domain is like a physical balm.

Link lets out an involuntary sigh of pure relief as she materialises at the shrine, immediately flopping down on the platform and resting her sore feet in the beautiful cool water. The relief is enough to override her normal dislike of transporting via the slate - the relief, and the one she's there to see.

It hasn't even been that long, and she has still missed him.

He's delighted to see her; he drops to his knees (royalty! He's royalty, on _his_ knees, before _her_!) to hug her close with back-breaking enthusiasm. The Domain is spread out before them; they have retreated to the hills above it, Link letting her legs dangle in the pond and the spray from the waterfall cool her skin while Sidon relaxes in the water.

She tells him about her journey, about the desert, about what a vara'vai is; he smiles as he listens.

"I'm glad that you've found a word," he murmurs, floating closer to rest his chin on her knees; she lets her hand rest on his head. "And that you're learning more about yourself. Before, you were so hesitant - strong, but hiding it." Appreciatively, he reaches up and runs a delicate clawed finger down her bicep, mostly hidden by the sleeve of her blue tunic; Link tries not to blush. "You've become more confident. You are magnificent, Link."

"Flatterer," she mutters, cheeks red as she leans down to rest her head on top of his.

"It's true!" he insists as he hauls himself out of the water, positioning himself behind her; she leans back against his stomach with a content sigh. "You _have_ changed since we last saw each other. Not just physically -" He strokes her upper arm again - "But the way you carry yourself. You are finding yourself again. Not the role you were appointed - you are _Link_ , and the person you are is remarkable."

What can she say to that? Link turns to half bury her face against his arm, sure that Sidon can feel the warmth of her face against his skin.

"I still don't always know what I'm doing," she admits. "The more I see things, it's like - I have to fight between being myself, and being what people want. And sometimes I just want to be what people want, so they're not disappointed. I get scared a lot."

The quietest little confession.

Sidon runs his fingers through her hair. "You would not be sane if you didn't, I think," he chuckles. "You face the most unimaginable horrors. Why, the other day, I travelled up to the Akkala border to meet with the Zora there. The _things_ in the wetlands - some have woken up now, and I could not even bear to go anywhere near them. And you face these dangers and more!"

"Guardians," she says softly, and shudders, like ice running down her spine. "I think - I think they scare me more than anything else. I can't remember why, but the first time I saw them, I just - I was so scared. And angry. I mean, I found out why later - the Calamity was when they turned on us. But it was more than that." Her mouth feels dry; goosebumps rise on her arms. "I was _terrified_. Sidon, please don't ever go near them."

She feels him nod, and twists around in his arms, grasping one of his big hands in both of hers.

"Please. Promise me."

Sidon gazes down at her, his gold eyes troubled. "I promise," he tells her seriously. "I promise."

She lets go of his hands and smiles faintly, one going to her chest, where a scar that crackles down her ribs like lightning is etched in her skin. "Thank you."

She won't lose him too.

 

"Something is bothering you, my sunshine," Sidon murmurs later that evening.

Link glances up in surprise, halfway through combing the tangles out of her hair (something the Zora do not have to worry about after a swim, she notes grumpily). "'My sunshine'?" she says quizzically, ignoring the actual question; Sidon raises his brow ridge.

"It seems fitting," he grins. "You're golden and you warm me up and we would all be poorer without you. Do you..." He hesitates. "Do you not like it?"

Her cheeks are warm enough to rival the sun, that much is certain.

"N-no. I like it." She smiles back almost tentatively, running her fingers through another tangle. "No one's ever called me something like that."

"They should." He moves over and drops a kiss into her hair, taking the comb from her. "Please, let me."

Settling back, Link closes her eyes, letting Sidon's clever fingers tease the knots from her hair. "Thanks."

There is companionable silence; the sound of their breathing, the sound of water gently lapping the sleeping pool, the wind outside. Zora voices, someone practising some sort of instrument (and apparently getting stuck in the same part, over and over). Sidon works methodically, gently. The air is warm enough; the water she's splashing her feet in is cool.

"You didn't say, earlier," he says suddenly, breaking the silence; Link winces a little. "Won't you tell me what troubles you?"

Link laughs wryly. "It's a long list," she quips, then sighs. "But I have been thinking."

When Sidon's hands still in her hair, she rises, turning to him. Even with him seated and herself standing, she still has to rise up on her toes to press a kiss to his lips; she can actually feel the way his skin warms.

Golden eyes.

Golden hair.

"I care about you so much," she says, and it's a sigh, her body feeling physically lighter at the words. "And I don't feel conflicted any more because - because Mipha gave us her blessing. That's not the problem. The problem is -"

She winces. Golden eyes, but golden hair...

"Princess Zelda," she finally says, her voice tiny. "I keep thinking about her. Remembering things. Before I came here, after I freed Naboris, I went north, through the highlands and into Tabantha. And I remembered something else."

_"And stop following me!"_

Sidon listens attentively; his eyes are on her.

"We - the Princess had been analysing a shrine. Trying to work out how they worked, you know. And I was nearby because I had to guard her. But she was -"

Her voice catches; she can still feel the bewildered hurt.

"She was angry. She said she didn't want me around, that - when I was appointed her protector, the King - I swore that I'd protect her. And I did." She's rambling now, the words spilling from her lips. "I followed her everywhere - she was going all over Hyrule, preparing for the Calamity, we were on the way south after seeing the Rito, I think - and she snapped at me and said to stop following her."

Link's voice catches; she stops, wringing her hands imploringly.

"It wasn't just for duty. I remembered that when I went back there. I would have followed her everywhere because - because I care about her, so much, and even now, it's so hard - the more I remember, the more I miss her, the more I - I _want_ to see her again, to be with her, and -"

Sidon raises a gentle hand, brushes away a tear she didn't know she had shed.

"I care about her, so much. And that's not fair to you. It's not fair that - that I - that we're together while -"

Her voice falters; Sidon pulls her into another embrace. He's careful, delicate, this time; it's nothing like the slightly painful enthusiasm of their reunion hug. "Link," he whispers, and says nothing else, stroking her hair and her back, seemingly drawing as much comfort from her as she is from him.

And it's not fair. It's not fair on him; it's not fair on the Princess.

"I'm sorry," she whispers.

"Don't," he tells her, and there's that catch in his own voice, too. "Link, please know this - whatever your choice is, you should do what makes you happy. My sunshine should not have to bear such hurts." He brushes his fingers against her cheek, and she manages a smile, small and sad. "What do you want to do?"

"I don't know." It comes out as a sigh. "You make me happy, Sidon. I came here after remembering that because I needed to see you again, because I feel so - at peace with you. Loved."

His eyes close; he's still smiling. "You are that."

"I want to stay with you," she says in a rush. "I love you. I think I also love Zelda. I don't know what will happen when I fight Calamity Ganon and free her. But whatever does happen, I still love you."

Sidon reaches for her hands and cups them in his own, then raises them to his mouth, kissing the tips delicately. "The future has not happened yet," he says, and Link thinks she can see the smallest hint of grief in his bright eyes. "Until it does, I would like very much to stay with you too. If the future is uncertain, then the present is all the more important."

She reaches for him, tucks her head against his shoulder, lets his arms enfold her.

If the present is what they have now, then she will make the most of it.


	17. Memory 14: To Mount Lanayru

It's unfair, Link thinks; so desperately, cruelly unfair.

She had found the horse statue and little park en route back up to Tabantha, working through shrines and growing stronger as she had continued to make for Vah Medoh. It had been familiar, the sight of the horse against the sky; the slate had been in her hand as she had ascended the hill.

She hadn't walked up, last time. Last time, she had been astride a horse, a sturdy chocolate mare, dark of mane and eyes. And Zelda, she had been riding her new white stallion, the royal regalia shining against his fur.

Zelda was becoming a better rider, thanks to Link's advice; she smiles as she recalls her genuine gratitude, the ease between them. Whatever tension had existed between them in the last memory she had regained was long gone.

The sun had been setting, and the horse statue stood proudly against the sky.

It's unfair, Link thinks, gazing up at the statue.

Zelda had stood at the edge of the park, a small figure with the weight of the world on her shoulders, the setting sun in her golden hair. She had gazed at Mount Lanayru, had spoken of the wisdom required - the age required - to go to the Spring of Wisdom. She was about to reach that age, and then she and Link would go there to see if Zelda could not claim her birthright.

They had only been children. Zelda had turned seventeen and they had set out that morning; Link's birthday had only been a few months past, a Knight of Hyrule from her sixteenth birthday, Zelda's sworn guardian since sixteen and a half; her seventeenth spent traversing Hyrule to try and save it from its fate. Zelda had turned seventeen, and they had gone to Mount Lanayru.

Link still didn't remember what had happened up on the mountain. She still didn't need to. She remembered enough.

They had come down from the mountain, the sun setting on Zelda's seventeenth birthday.

Calamity Ganon had awakened.

The Champions had been trapped.

The Guardians had betrayed them.

The King had died, and so had Hyrule, and Zelda had wept in her arms as she blamed herself for every death she saw on her hands.

It was so, so unfair.

Link gazes out at Mount Lanayru, and her heart feels heavy.

"Not the happiest birthday," she mutters to the mountains, and turns away.

Calamity Ganon had risen on the day when Zelda was meant to have come of age. Her birthday had been a massacre.

With a sigh, she starts back down the hill, weighing up her options. There's probably just enough daylight to reach the tower she can see in the distance, although with no knowledge of what condition it might be in, she would risk an uncomfortable night. (Link does not want a repeat of the events at Akkala Tower. She does _not_.) Or, she can backtrack; Outskirt Stables isn't too far away, and offers a good night's sleep, a hot meal, and plenty of time to consider the unfairness of world-ending events on joyous occasions.

"I'll get an early start," she promises to herself. "First light, I'm off."

Into Tabantha. On to the Rito Village, to face Vah Medoh. She's already lingered long enough; she will not linger again.

But tonight, she will have a soft bed.

There are wild horses in the plains near the park, and Link stops to watch them, a faint smile on her lips. There's a strong dappled one, a swift-looking tan one - and then she stops, because the third horse she can see is milk white and shining in the last of the light, and her first thought is, _that's Zelda's horse!_

(It's impossible, of course. Zelda's horse lived one hundred years ago. And yet, _and yet_.)

She will have to be quiet. The horse looks strong and flighty; she does not want for it to run away.

She just needs to stay quiet...

It's a tangible reminder of Zelda, Link decides as she and the horse trot down the road back to the stable, stroking the mane beneath her fingers. Not quite the same horse, no, but one similar enough to feel that connection, to feel that this is a piece of the past brought to the present. When things are over, she decides, she will give this horse to Zelda.

Apparently, her intuition is correct. One of the stable workers, an old man named Toffa who stands barely taller than Link (but still taller, much to her consternation), has spotted her registering the horse; he is visibly excited as he tells of his grandfather spotting Zelda's own horse grazing on the hill soon after the Calamity. This, he suspects, is a descendent of that royal stallion, and once he has been adorned with the royal regalia that his grandfather had passed down to him, the horse is the spitting image of the one she remembers.

"Staying alive in this godforsaken land may have just been worth it after all," he exults, and Link is so pleased she can't even bring herself to be annoyed at the 'son' that precedes it.

The stable hands adorn the new stallion in purple and gold, brush the tangles from his mane and tail, adorn them with flowers. "Don't you look good, little one?" Link whispers to his muzzle, stroking and petting, feeling the horse's nerves melt under her hands; "I won't name you yet, I'll let Zelda do that. But I'll look after you, little one, I promise."

(What if, Link thinks, what if she finds the grandchild of her own chocolate mare? Would she recognise her at first sight, or would there be no resemblance, passing her by?)

The evening is calm. She cooks up a hearty risotto, slices of truffles aromatic and the rice tender, sits around the fire and talks with the other guests, swaps rumours and hints. Tabantha is cold, she learns; she would be wise to wear warmer clothes; she smiles to herself and finds the quilted shirt in her pack, one of the gifts of the king, still looking out for her. She learns that the tower nearest by is surrounded by a swamp and a lake and that crackles of electricity can be seen from there; she wonders if she _really_ needs that map or if she can just wing it.

It'd be another delay. She's wasted enough time, visiting Sidon, catching horses. The Rito are waiting for her, and this time, she will not stop. She will go to the Rito, free Vah Medoh, press on, save Zelda.

And when she does, they will go riding and eat fruit cake once again.

"The sight of the princess riding atop the white horse was supposed to be a beauty beyond words," Toffa had sighed, like his old eyes could barely imagine such a thing.

Link smiles, rolls over in bed. "She was," she murmurs to the pillow, and lets herself sleep.


	18. Memory 2: Revali's Flap

Vah Medoh is very big, and very high up, and Link has no idea how she's even going to reach it.

It's a menacing sight in the skies above the Rito Village, in their island of rock reaching upwards optimistically. But the highest parts of the village are abandoned and empty; Link can all too easily imagine the Rito hunkering down, moving ever lower, the Divine Beast stealing the sky from them.

Kass, the Rito musician she has run into all over Hyrule, glances at her. "It has been... difficult," he says wryly, gesturing upwards with one wing. "We Rito are of the air - having the Beast patrolling our natural territories is, well. Unnatural."

Link tries to smile reassuringly. "I'll find a way to stop it," she promises. "I've already calmed Ruta and Naboris, so Medoh shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Providing, of course, she can get up there in the first place.

Kass slows his pace and studies her properly. "I have no doubt of that," he tells her, and opens his beak as if to continue, before stopping. He shakes his head. "You are resourceful," he finally says, almost as if to remind himself. "Vah Medoh should be no problem for you."

Link smiles again, but it's rather more worried than before.

How _is_ she going to reach it?

It's nearing evening as Link and Kass continue up the path, Link glancing around herself in fascination at the - she can only call them 'nests' - suspended from the path. There are Rito cooking the evening meals, children playing; Kass stops at one nest near the top and bows to her.

"This is my home," he says, and immediately a small, purple-feathered Rito appears seemingly from nowhere and latches to his leg. He laughs, petting the child's head. "And this little one is my daughter, Kheel. My little feather, this is my friend, Link."

"Hi!" Kheel peeps, "I like your feathers. They're yellow, like Kotts'!"

Kass chuckles. "One of my other daughters," he explains. "There are five, altogether. And -" He gestures inwards to the nest, where a taller Rito, her green feathers neatly groomed, emerges, a little blue hatchling on her hip. "This is my wife, Amari, and Cree, another of our daughters. My love, this is Link."

Amari sets down Cree, who immediately latches on to Kass' other leg, and regards Link warmly. "A pleasure," she beams. "Kass has told me so much about you - the young woman doing so much to save Hyrule."

Laughing sheepishly, Link scratches the back of her head. "Oh, uh, thanks! I had a lot of help." A nod to Kass; "Including from Kass. He's told me about a lot of shrines."

"It is the least I can do."

Amari reaches out for Kass' wing; they brush gently. "You are hear to speak with Elder Kaneli, yes?" she asks, and Link nods. "Wonderful. It's getting late - once you speak with him, why don't you come back here? It would be our pleasure to host you here for the night."

Link grins. "Thanks!"

She likes Kass, and Amari, and the children, now tumbling back into the nest for their dinner. Kass, his arms full of his daughters, can only nod reassuringly to Link; she smiles back and continues up the path alone.

Kaneli is kind enough, although she does not seem able to convince him that she actually is the Champion of long ago and not just a descendent. He tells her of the Rito who have already tried to face Medoh; about Harth's injuries and Teba's continued determination. It's too dark (at least, Link hopes) for Teba to attempt to face Medoh now; Link departs from Kaneli's nest for the next one over.

Teba's wife, Saki, is waiting for Link there. She tells her of the Flight Range at the base of the mountains; Link adds a marker to the map on the slate and promises Saki she will go there at first light, departing from Revali's Landing.

Revali's Landing...

Link leaves Saki's nest with only a mumbled goodbye, following the path down to the landing as if being drawn by an invisible tether. She stands there, buffeted by the chill wind pouring off the mountains, gazes outwards, remembers - remembers.

Revali, master of the sky. Revali, the most skilled archer of all the Rito.

Revali, bragging, boasting, rubbing Link's lack of wings in her face, huffing that _he_ should have been the one to lead the assault, that Link had only been chosen by virtue of the Master Sword.

"Good luck sealing the darkness!" he laughs, soaring into the sky; Link grits her teeth and clenches her fists and says nothing, nothing.

Link grits her teeth, clenches her fists, and says, "What a _dick_."

It's cold. Returning to Kass' place is a relief, and she settles on a bedroll set up nearest the fire. "To account for your lack of feathers," Amari says, smiling warmly; Link thanks her gratefully but the words linger in her mind.

It's very cold, and Vah Medoh is very high up. Without wings, how is she ever to find a way up there?

What is she supposed to do?

 

It's first light when she leaves the village, at least one problem solved with the new garb Kass has gifted her. Delightfully warm in her Rito-made Snowquill gear, she raises a hand to wave to Saki, to Kass and Amari and the children, and soars off Revali's Landing.

She's going to find Teba. She's going to stop Vah Medoh.

She'll save them, and be one step closer to saving Zelda.

Teba is gruff and serious, seated on the launch platform, attending to his bow. "I can help you," she says stubbornly, "With Vah Medoh. Your wife and Elder Kaneli are really worried, you know."

He stares her down. "And some random Hylian has decided to step in? I'm not buying it. What's your name, stranger?"

"Link."

"Link, huh? Well, Link. I'm Teba. But you already knew that." He raises a feathered eyebrow at her. "So the Elder asked you to come here and talk some sense into me. Am I right?"

She nods sheepishly, and laces her fingers together behind her back, straightening up, trying to look more the hero and not so much the scolded child.

"Just like the Elder," he mutters, then shakes his head. "Look, you seem like an all-right guy -"

"Girl -"

"An all-right girl, but let's make one thing clear - I'm not going anywhere. As a Rito warrior, I won't rest until my people are safe."

And she can understand that; Goddesses, she can understand that. She knows what it's like, to do whatever it takes to ensure her loved ones are safe.

"There's only one way I'm going back to the village," Teba continues, and his expression turns fierce, "And that is once Divine Beast Vah Medoh falls from the sky. If I have to kill Medoh, then so be it. Then, and _only_ then, will I return to the village."

"Right," Link says, "Then let's get started."

He stares at her. "Are you serious?"

Link nods; her expression is set. "You're not the only one who wants to protect people."

Teba actually grins, and tells her about the flight test.

 

It's not a bad bit of engineering, really. Link is not a Rito; she does not have the ability to fly under her own speed and wield a bow at the same time. Somehow, she suspects that letting go of the paraglider to grab her bow won't quite work; she might get off a few shots, but ending up as a smear on the ground afterwards isn't quite the landing she has in mind.

No, somehow she needs to use the paraglider and keep her hands free; to be able to glide and shoot simultaneously.

"How do I look?" she asks Teba after a good half hour of work, and the Rito hides a laugh.

"Stupid. But it might work."

She's made a harness out of rope, wrapped around her shoulders and under her arms, crossing over her chest. More ropes attach firmly to the glider's hand grips; others connect from its tips to her wrists. To collapse the glider, she only needs to pull her hands together; to spread them, she just needs to spread her arms, the bow in one hand, arrow in the other.

Her heart is definitely in her throat when she throws herself off the ledge, arms spread wide so the glider catches the air. She soars high then nocks the arrow, lets the glider collapse, begins to fall; she shoots the target and spreads her arms again, catching the wind and soaring upwards again.

It's easy. It's slow. Time feels like it stands still when she draws the arrow; she can see the path it makes, winding through the air, before it strikes home.

Slow, delicate. She has time to draw, aim, shoot; she barely falls. Time stands still in the air.

Five targets in three minutes? She has them done in less than one.

And it's not the first time, is it? Vah Ruta, the first Divine Beast she had faced; Vah Ruta, soaring up the waterfalls, shooting shock arrows into the generators. Time had slowed, time had let her take aim and fire, and she had thought it just adrenaline at the time but this, this is something else.

Teba looks impressed despite himself when she lands back on the platform, nodding respectfully to her. "You're... a skilled archer," he says almost grudgingly, "I have never seen a Hylian shoot so swiftly and with such precision."

Swiftly, from the perspective of one watching. Link nods, stores that information away.

"I've got to tell you, Link," he adds, "When you first showed up, I thought someone was playing a prank on me. But after seeing you handle that bow, I can tell you're the real deal. You must have seen a battle or two."

_Hundreds of them,_ Link thinks, and her hand tightened on the bow. "A few," Link says, and she can feel the bow and arrows in her fingers, the battles, the endless bloody fighting.

Teba nods. "Well, if you keep shooting like that, we will manage this in no time. Are you ready?"

"I am."

"Good."

He equips her with a Rito-made quickshot bow; he gives her a quiver full of bomb arrows. He explains their task - he will draw Medoh's fire; she will shoot down the laser cannons that make up both Medoh's defence and offence.

"Can I ask you something?" Teba murmurs as they get in position. She nods. "Why are you doing this? Why risk your life to bring down Medoh?"

Link bites her lip and remembers golden hair. "For Zelda," she says quietly.

Teba glances down at her curiously. "The princess Revali served a hundred years ago?" he queries, then shakes his head. "I don't know what she has to do with Medoh, but whatever. As long as you do your job, it's fine with me." He exhales, ruffles his feathers once, and crouches. "Right. Get on."

Link clambers on to his back. Teba spreads his wings.

They fly.


	19. Revali's Gale

"Oh, it's you," Revali says. "I had a feeling you would show up - _eventually_."

"Hi, Link," Link immediately returns, "Nice to see you after a hundred years, Link. Thanks for coming to free my soul, Link."

Revali snorts, somehow. "Yes, well. Making me wait a hundred years is a bit... indulgent, isn't it?"

Link rolls her eyes, already making her way inside to find the map controls. "I was kind of indisposed at the time." Malice, wind, blocks over a sizeable drop. She has the feeling she's going to be keeping the paraglider in place for a while, yet. "I only just woke up."

There's a spectral laugh. "Sleeping in, were you?"

"Involuntarily. In the Shrine of Resurrection."

"Oh." There's a heavy pause. "I knew I should have been the one to protect the Princess myself."

Link raises an eyebrow, grinning despite herself, despite the morbid conversation. "In case it escaped your notice somehow, Revali, you died too. And I've already beaten two of the Blights. I'm sure whichever one is here won't be too much trouble."

"Two?" Revali, she is fairly sure, is pouting. "You mean you didn't rush straight over to free me?"

"You know, I could still leave and go free Rudania first." A Guardian scout - a small one, easy enough - and she's reached the Guidance Stone, slotting the slate in place. "From what I remember, Daruk has a significantly less bad attitude."

" _Bad attitude_ , he says!"

The map has been distilled; Link retrieves the slate. "She," she mumbles, and Revali pauses for a moment.

"She, then." Is it her imagination, or does he sound a little embarrassed? "Ahem. You see the terminals marked on your map, of course. You'll need to activate them all to take back control. Think you're up to it?"

"Can't be any harder than Ruta or Naboris."

"Oh, of _course_ she goes for the lover first!"

Link is grinning, even as she jumps and leaps. "Wouldn't you? Not only is she actually kind and supportive and friendly, she's significantly easier on the eyes."

"I'll have you know that I am - or _was_ \- the most eligible bachelor amongst the Rito!"

"Wow. There can't have been much competition, then."

She's finding, much to her surprise, that she's kind of missed this. Memories of Revali are coming back, even as she works through the Divine Beast. She had spent so much time silent - but Revali, Revali had prompted her sarcastic side, her teasing side. She had stayed silent to be the perfect knight, the perfect champion - but Revali had been a champion too, and he had not accepted silence.

They had verbally sparred, she and Revali. There had not been much love between them, no. But a certain grudging respect, the knowledge that barbed comments and sarcasm would be returned in kind - they had clashed, and it had been almost… fun.

And the conversation gets lighter, it gets friendlier and more encouraging. The more terminals Link activates, the more Revali praises her; by the time she's ready to go to the main control unit (and, she can only assume, to fight the next Blight), he's almost cheering her on.

"Ready," Link mutters to herself, taps the slate against the control unit, and leaps back as the malignant energy begins to swirl. She has her bow in one hand, sword in easy reach; she's ready.

"Good luck," Revali says grimly. "That thing is one of Ganon's own, and it plays dirty! It defeated me a hundred years ago -" There's a heavy pause - "But only because I was winging it."

"Are you _serious_ ," Link starts to say, and despite the monster facing her, she actually has to try not to laugh.

Revali ignores his own terrible pun. "I can't believe I'm about to say this," he mumbles, and calls out, "But you must avenge me, Link!"

"I'm on it," she says grimly, and wades into the fray.

 

Being dead for a hundred years hasn't changed Revali much. Still the same cocky bearing; still the same imperious tilt of the head. He still stares down his beak at her, she still stares back fearlessly.

If Mipha was one she loved, and if Urbosa was like a mother, then Revali was like a sibling - a friendly rival, a sparring partner. A friend.

Yes, they had been friends. She remembers that now. In the end, they had been friends.

"Well," he says, "I'll be plucked."

She's exhausted and sore and still snorts, despite herself.

"I _suppose_ I should thank you now that my spirit is free and Medoh is back to its rightful owner," he says; Link raises an eyebrow.

"I accept tribute in offerings of food," she tells him, and her face is gravely serious before both she and Revali lose their composure, laughter breaking the tension.

"Don't preen yourself just for doing your job!"

"It was easy. I was just doing it on the fly."

Revali, she thinks, takes far too much pleasure in flinging her into the air while passing on his gift.

"It's time to move on, start making preparations for Medoh's strike on Ganon," Revali says, and he's all seriousness again, and Link is almost ready to drop the sass - "But only if you think you'll still need my help when you're fighting inside Hyrule Castle."

She almost replies sarcastically. She almost does. Instead, she sighs, smiles. "I would appreciate it. Thank you, Revali."

He's caught off-guard; there's a smart reply on the tip of his beak and she knows it, and it never comes. He draws breath, shakes his head. "Just - just go," he says quietly, and Link raises her hand in a parting farewell, lets the magic wrap around her.

The last thing she hears as she's whisked away are the whisper-quiet words of, "Thank you, Link."


	20. Hand In Hand

Link remains in the Rito Village for a handful more days, resting, recovering from Vah Medoh, preparing to take on the volcano. The Rito, masters of the air, have superb maps; even without the nearest towers, she's able to note down major features on her slate, points of interest, hazards that she'll encounter.

She's going to make her way almost directly due east from the village. If she follows the road, eventually it'll turn north-east to follow the rim of Tanagar Canyon; Link is instead going to cross it and bear for Serenne Stable, saving herself the long trek along the northern tip of the canyon. From the stable, then, she'll go off-road again - straight east, north of the castle, south of the forest; skirting past the training camp (and another tower, if she so chooses) to make for the Woodland Stable. For the best preparation for the mountain, she'll continue along the foothills, making for the Foothill Stable -

And then she will begin to climb, to climb the mountain that looms over Hyrule like an ominous red eye.

Foothill Stable is not far from Zora's Domain. The thought has occurred to her, yes, that she could see Sidon once her task is complete.

But not before. Not before. She cannot afford to be distracted, not again.

She will free Rudania. She will see Sidon. And then she will march upon Hyrule Castle.

For now, though, she's resting, training, getting ready. She's practising her new abilities at the flight range, having shaped the paraglider into something more intuitive and easy to use with her bow, and learning archery advice from Teba at the same time.

A natural shot, he calls her, but there are still ways to become even better. She learns eagerly, impatiently, knowing that lives depend on her skills.

And this magic, this ability, whatever it is - she wants to master that, too. Mipha could heal. Urbosa could conjure lightning; Revali could summon gusts of wind. Perhaps this is her ability, her contribution to the Champions other than just being the kid with the best sword; perhaps she can actually save lives with this.

She goes out into the mountains for training, in frosty Hebra and windswept Tabantha. There, she taps into her ability in fights against Moblins, Lizalfos, a Lynel (because she's fought them before, she remembers that, and she can do it again, and she does, she does!). She can make time slow for her, and she takes them down easily.

It's like stretching new muscles. If Zelda had not been able to access her sealing magic, perhaps Link's prior lack of ability with her own powers had meant the difference between success and failure in the past.

If she can master this, then this time, she will not fail. She can't. Too much depends on it.

And there are people to help, too. She rounds up Kass' daughters and supervises a recital, she takes care of a Frost Talus menacing encampments in the mountains. The Rito Village has helped her; she will help them in return.

The evening before she's set to depart to the mountain, Link sits and listens to Kass and his daughters perform a concert, little voices raised in harmony in the clear mountain air as the sun sinks behind the Hebra mountains. The entire village has turned out; Link sits beside Teba, Tulin clambering over his father and, occasionally, perching on Link's own shoulders, and Amari sits on her other side and listens in obvious pride; even Fyson has halted his preparations to leave for Tarrey Town to listen.

She applauds at the end with everyone else. The girls bounce over to scramble into Amari's lap (given that there's five of them, Genli ends up clinging to her leg instead and Kheel actually ends up in Link's lap instead; she pets the little Rito's head feathers absently) while the other villagers congratulate them and Kass on a concert well-performed, the sun dips below the mountains, and the gentle night falls.

The others depart. Only Link, Kass, Amari, and the girls remain; Amari brushes her wing tips against Kass' and leads the girls back down the path.

"That was really nice," Link says with a smile, perching on the fence. "The girls did a really great job."

Kass chuckles. "That they did," he says, and the pride is evident in his voice. "They wanted to make sure they were ready for your last night here - are all of your preparations complete?"

Link nods. "I have my map marked out, plenty of food and flint, and my gear is in good condition. It's now or never, I guess."

Nodding, Kass studies her for a moment, then brings out his accordion again. "In that case, Link, I would like to request something of you. I've a song I need you to hear."

Link raises her eyebrows, nodding. "Do you have news of another shrine?"

He shakes his head. "This is of a more personal nature."

Intrigued, Link clambers off the fence, facing him properly. "I'm all ears."

"You are a Hylian, after all," Kass grins, and turns solemn again. "I wanted to talk to you about my teacher - one of the Sheikah tribe, and the court poet for the Hyrulean Royal Family."

Link nods; she gestures for Kass to continue. She doesn't quite know what the connection is, other than Kass' teacher being the one to teach him the ancient songs, but she'll listen. She will.

"At the time, there was a beautiful princess in the royal family, quite close to my teacher in age, apparently. Though he must have know it was doomed to be unrequited, my teacher fell in love with her. But the princess herself only had eyes for one other." Kass' gaze fixes on Link. "Her escort. Her own knight attendant."

Night is falling; that does not explain the chill that runs down Link's spine.

"My teacher was consumed with jealousy. He fumed that the knight was neither nobility nor royalty him - my pardon, herself."

Her. He's talking about her.

Kass closes his eyes. "And then the Calamity struck."

It could have ended there. It could have ended with a jealous Sheikah poet; it could have ended with the teacher's death at the hands of the Calamity, never knowing the fate of his Princess.

It does not.

"...My teacher believed a hero would appear to beat back the Calamity. He poured that belief into a song. And that song is what I need you to hear."

Turning to face the last light of the day, Kass begins to play.

"An ancient hero," he sings softly, "A Calamity appears, now resurrected after ten thousand years. Her appointed knight gives her life, shields her figure, and pays the price."

She had died to save Zelda.

"The princess's love for her fallen knight awakens her power. Within the castle, the Calamity is forced to cower." Kass' voice grows strong - delighted, proud, filled with genuine joy. "But the knight survives!" he cries, "In the Shrine of Resurrection she sleeps, until from her healing dream she leaps! Fierce and deadly trials await, to regain her strength, to fulfil her fate. To become a Hero once again, to wrest the princess from evil's den!"

Kass is smiling now, eyes crinkling, radiating joy.

"The hero, the princess - hand in hand - will bring the light back to the land."

Link exhales, lets her breath out slowly, her gaze blurring through a glaze of tears. Kass glances down at her and smiles again.

"My teacher fled the Calamity and returned to his hometown of Kakariko Village," he explains, rubbing the tip of his wings over the accordion's keys. "But on the way, he witnessed the princess's knight sacrifice herself to protect the princess. The elder of Kakariko Village at the time - her name was Impa too, she was the grandmother of the one currently there - she explained the circumstances to him, and his mind was made up."

"What did he do?" Link asked softly, her voice wavering.

This time, Kass turns to her fully. "He decided to seek the songs of the hero that sealed the Calamity away in an age past - so that they could be passed on to the knight once she returned, all so the princess might be saved. These were my teacher's last words, passed on now through me."

And now he does something utterly unexpected. Kass kneels, reaches for Link's hand, meets her gaze steadily. "And so, appointed knight, Will you accept this song from my departed teacher?"

The teacher, the poet, the one who set aside old grudges so that the princess would be saved, so that Zelda would be happy. Link swallows past the lump in her throat. "Yes. Of course I will."

Kass beams. "I knew you would." He straightens up, binding the accordion again, popping the joints in his back. "My teacher would often speak of the princess's beauty. I would love to meet her and craft a song worthy of her..."

"When we stop the Calamity," Link says, and it's a promise she's making, one she will not break. "When we stop the Calamity, I'll bring her here, and you can meet her. I bet she'd want to meet the one who helped me so much, anyway."

He nods, eyes crinkling in a smile again. "Thank you."

 

The moon is high in the sky. Link remains awake in the cool night air, gazing up at the stars; she is lost in thought.

She thinks of Kass' teacher, of the song he had written so that his princess would one day be safe. She thinks of the sacrifice he made, of giving up his own happiness.

And she thinks of her own sacrifice, the confirmation that she had given her life to protect Zelda.

She would have died for the princess. (Indeed, she had.) She would have done it then; she would have done it now.

And Zelda -

"The princess's love for her fallen knight awakens her power," she whispers, "The princess's love..."

_You love me, Zelda?_

_You love me, like I love you?_

Her eyes are misty again, but she's smiling, smiling like her heart is bursting. She wants to weep, she wants to laugh, so she tilts back her head and does both, scrubbing at her eyes with her sleeve, chest aching and breathless.

And then she leaps to her feet and walks - no, runs - down the path for the the inn.

She's going to rest up. She's going to get started as soon as it's light.

She's going to go to the mountain, free Daruk's soul, calm Vah Rudania.

She's going to march on the castle and stop the Calamity, her and Zelda together, hand in hand.

She loves, and is loved in return. Sidon, Zelda. She loves them both. They love her in return.

She's loved, she thinks as she lets the wind whip back her hair, dry the tears from her eyes, she's loved, she's loved, she's loved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not that I update very regularly, but I'll be on hiatus for November (and probably the first part of December) while I tackle NaNoWriMo!


	21. Memory 18: The Master Sword

Link is sheltering from the rain beneath the skull-shaped shelter of the Woodland Tower when she first hears it.

Perhaps 'hears' is the wrong word. It's a full-bodied sensation, something that turns her gaze magnetically to the forest, a shiver running down her spine that has nothing to do with the chilly night. Something in there is calling to her, singing in her mind; it draws her to the edge of the tower to stare forth.

The forest is peculiar-looking, that much is certain. Its edges are the green that one would expect, but towards the middle is a near-solid ring of grey, dead trees shrouded in mist that persists no matter what the weather. Within, another band of green, bright with new growth, and beyond that - beyond that, an immense canopy in pink, rising far higher than any other tree in the forest.

And it's from there that she is being called.

When the rain stops, she glides down, lands lightly in a clearing in the (green, growing, not covered in mist) forest. She turns, feels the tug again; lets it guide her feet.

The mist swirls around her. She feels disoriented, turned-around; Link reaches for that invisible tether and lets it help her keep her course.

Perhaps she should be afraid. The woods are silent, the moss beneath her feet so dense that her footfalls are muffled before the sound can ever reach her ears. The trees around her are immense and old, immense and reach towards her; she can swear she sees faces amongst them, in the twisted wood. The only wildlife she sees are silent crows, a sea of eyes watching her; in the distance, lights dance and shift through the mist.

But she walks with clarity and purpose, her hands empty and loose by her sides, weapons on her back. Her eyes aren't quite focused; the song she's following is in her head and she does not need vision to navigate.

Perhaps she should be afraid. She is not. The song in her head is meant for her.

And the mist lifts; the trees become lush and green. Koroks peer at her curiously from the branches; the unearthly song becomes louder and clearer. She does not need to follow it, now; she can see what it was that was singing to her, her gaze fixed to the sword in the pedestal directly in front of her.

She remembers the Master Sword, a part of her just as much as her own arm.

"Hello, old friend," she whispers, and the song whispers her name in return.

The tips of her fingers brush the hilt -

_"Link -"_

Zelda, her eyes, her face, her desperation -

_"You are our final hope -"_

The sword on her back, kneeling before her, a Silent Princess in bloom -

_"The fate of Hyrule rests with you!"_

Calamity Ganon draws back and then lunges, Link jerks back -

And she exhales.

She's in the forest, standing before her sword, her fingertips tingling in memory.

The immense tree before her mumbles, yawns, and murmurs, "Who is that? Did I doze off again?"; Link's mouth falls open in surprise.

The tree is gazing at her, old eyes sharp. "Well, well," he says softly, "It's you."

She wishes she could say the same, really.

"You finally decided to return," he continues, and there's the slightest hint of a rebuke in his voice. "Better late than never. After one hundred years, I'd nearly given up hope of seeing you again. Even my patience has limits, you know."

Link ducks her head. "Sorry," she says quietly, "I was kind of, ah - sleeping. I only woke up a little while ago."

He gazes at her like he can see through her; see past her bones and blood all the way to her soul. And she knows him, somehow; she's not sure they've ever met in living memory (and certainly not in hers), but like the sword, he's familiar.

Somehow.

"That look on your face tells me you have no recollection of me," he says, and she ducks her head again, suddenly feeling caught out.

"I'm sorry. I don't remember a lot of things."

He smiles. "I have watched over Hyrule since time immemorial. Many have referred to me over the ages as the Deku Tree."

(A forest dappled with sun, kids in green running through the grass. Fairies overhead, a companion to all but one child. A hidden island, a forest hidden surrounded by sea; Koroks watching a boy with a baton.)

She jerks. The Deku Tree gazes at her, like he's seeing someone else, and his gaze switches to the blade.

"That is the weapon created by the ancient Goddess. The sword that seals the darkness, that only the chosen knight can weild against the Calamity Ganon. Believe it or not, it was actually you who weilded that sword one hundred years ago."

"I remember," she says softly. "I can remember bits and pieces, and - I remember the sword."

The Deku Tree murmurs approvingly. "Then I must warn you to take extreme caution. The sword stands as a test to anyone who would dare possess it. Only one with the Spirit of the Hero will have the inner strength to truly weild it. As you are now, I cannot say if the sleep of ages has robbed you of that power."

The sword sings songs of courage. It calls to her; Link does not tear her gaze from it. "I can do it. She -" She? But it's correct, isn't it? "- called me through the forest. I know it's time."

"Then, young one," the Deku Tree says, "I wish you the best of luck."

Link doesn't answer verbally, stepping forward with her back straight. The tips of her fingers slide over the hilt; she curls her fingers around it, pulls it into her hands, embraces the sword like an old friend.

 _I'm back,_ she tells the sword, her eyes sliding shut. _It's time._

Her grip tightens. Her mouth grows dry. She feels rooted to the spot, like the blood flowing through her veins is pouring out her hands and into the sword; she can feel her strength ebbing and flowing like a tide. Her muscles are trembling; beads of sweat drip down her face.

The Master Sword has been asleep for such a long time, laid to rest at a time when its strength had been all but depleted. It has been weakened, damaged.

 _I'll share my strength with you, my old friend,_ Link vows, and pours her heart and soul into the sword that is a part of her.

The sword slides free of the stone. Link raises it like a part of her arm, like it's back where it belongs, raises it skyward.

There are tears in her eyes. She gazes up at the blade.

Something gazes back.

_Held securely. Tired, in pain, afraid; but there's hope, hope for the one in whose arms she rests, hope for the one bound for sleep._

_A forest, a voice; familiarity, an old friend._

_"Your master shall come for you," she is told as she is laid down, Hylia's child delivering her to her sleep; "Until then, you shall rest safely here."_

_Fatigue, but relief. A chance to rest, to recover._

_"Although the Slumber of Restoration will most certainly deprive him of his memories, please trust me when I say that I know he will arrive before you yet again."_

_Worry for her hero; hope for her hero. They will meet again._

_The Old One speaks. Asks Hylia's child of her intentions._

_"The Master Sword. I heard it speak to me."_

_Like a touch through water, reaching out to one connected to her by the blood of her creator. She knows what the daughter of the Goddess must do, and the daughter will see it through, through the strength of her convictions, the courage in her heart, the wisdom in her soul._

_"Tell him I -"_

_"Now, then... words intended for him would sound much better in the tones of your voice, don't you think?"_

_"...Yes."_

_She sleeps._

Link opens her eyes.

The sword's gem glints; she gazes at it with further clarity. "That was you, wasn't it?" she murmurs to the blade, pressing the hilt against her forehead. "You showed me your own memories. Zelda took you here."

A whisper, a lyrical confirmation.

"What you just saw," the Deku Tree says as Link lowers the blade, "Happened where you stand one hundred years ago. After you were separated from the sword, the princess thought to bring it here, where she knew it would be safe under my watch. She continues to fight, trapped deep within the confines of Hyrule Castle. Her heart cascades with faith that you will return."

Link nods tightly, her eyes hot. "I will. I swear it. I have one more Divine Beast to free, and then I'm going to go to the Castle."

"She has a smile like the sun," the Deku Tree says, and smiles. "I would do much to feel its warmth upon me once again."

Link smiles back in the memory of Zelda's sunshine, the memory of being basked in its warmth. "When we defeat Calamity Ganon," she promises, "We'll return. Both of us."

The night is approaching; shadows stretch beneath the trees, illuminated by tiny lanterns. Within the Deku Tree, Link is told, is a place to rest, food to eat; preserved and waiting for her, the scabbard that accompanies the Master Sword.

The mountain is close, but the hour is late and Link is tired. She folds herself into the bed the Koroks have prepared for her; lays the Master Sword in its scabbard beside her.

"I've missed you," she murmurs, her eyes mostly closed now. "Tomorrow we'll go to the mountain and see Daruk, okay? And then..."

She exhales, smiles.

"And then we'll go to Zelda," she promises, and lets the sword sing her to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *shows up two months late with the Master Sword* Knew I'd get a December update in! Things have slowed down somewhat, but we're nearing the last Divine Beast, and then it's on to face Ganon! And some extreme trauma, but mostly on to face Ganon!


	22. Memory 4: Daruk's Mettle

Link had thought the desert had been bad.

She had left the forest, following the road as far as it had gone, making for Eldin Tower before attempting any path up the volcano. The tower itself wasn't far off the road leading up its flanks; she had paraglided down and started towards it, always heading upwards.

Aside from the inconvenient fact that the heat was so overpowering that she had nearly collapsed on the spot, simply unable to cope with it pressing down on her like a physical force, leaving her wheezing in the ashy air.

There was simply nothing for it. She had been forced to turn around and follow the road back to the nearest stable. She could barely breathe in the foothills, let alone further up.

"It's not uncommon," Gaile tells her kindly as Link attempts to remember how breathing works, flopped back against a crate and guzzling water. "People try to go up all the time without being properly prepared. They don't get very far. When I have business up there, I use fireproof elixirs."

"Can you sell me some?" Link asks pathetically, "Or teach me how to make them?"

"I can do both." The woman grins. "Did you see those black lizards? They're all over the place, in the lower hills, too. They have a property in them that stops them from overheating; you should be able to gather a few dozen just around here. And further in, the Gorons sell armour - really ugly armour - that has similar properties."

Link pushes herself up. "That sounds promising."

"Right? There's still some daylight left," Gaile observes, "You could probably catch some while they're all dozy from the afternoon sun, then start up the mountain tomorrow."

"I will!" Link promises, then flops back again with a thin groan. "As soon as I recover from heat stroke..."

 

The elixirs work as well as Gaile had promised, with the only side effect being a persistent case of goosebumps even despite the heat of the volcano. It's still painfully, uncomfortably hot. Link has wrangled her sweat-soaked bangs up with a makeshift headband, tying her ponytail up higher so it doesn't stick to her neck, but her eyes are still smarting from the sweat running into them.

It's probably a good thing that the smell of sulphur is overpowering - she probably smells less than fresh.

The armour she's managed to trade for helps a little; her torso and arms feel comfortably warm instead of burning hot like her legs and face. It's not very pretty, but it's practical - she's able to press on to Goron City without too much trouble, buying the rest of the armour with relief.

Definitely not pretty. Link can't help but be faintly relieved that Sidon isn't here to see her dressed like this.

Bludo, the Goron elder, has been hard at work driving off Vah Rudania. Link is impressed - no one else has even been game enough to approach the Divine Beasts (not for lack of trying, at least), and here are the Gorons, managing to keep it away from them, again and again.

What can she do, other than offer her assistance?

Grumbling at Drak's complete lack of help and, indeed, empathy ("Oh, Yunobo? Up at the vault. Come to think of it, he never came down. Better not go up there, it's too dangerous!"), Link does indeed find Yunobo at the vault. She also finds the wall of slag in front of the entrance, and Yunobo's desperate calls for help from within.

She hesitates, biting her lip, then calls out, "Yunobo? Boss sent me. Can you hear me?"

There's a terrified little pause. "Yeah!" he finally calls back, "But there was a slide and now I'm trapped!"

Link grins, and pulls out the slate. "Stand well back," she warns, sets up a bomb, and detonates.

It does... absolutely nothing.

Neither does the Cobble Crusher she's found; the slag is too hot to touch and has no gaps someone might wriggle through. She stares at it, disconcerted.

"Hey!" Yunobo calls out again, a tinge of panic in his voice. "Strange person! Don't leave me!"

"I'm not! I'm just thinking!"

"Well, I can't help with _that_ , goro!"

She just needs a little more force... "I have an idea," she calls as she spots something further into the crater, "Don't go anywhere!"

"Very funny, goro!" Yunobo snorts; Link is already gliding across to where she can see a great big, rather useful cannon...

When the rocks clear, Yunobo is enshrouded in orange flickering crystal; memory nudges at Link. But he shakes it off when he sees her approach, blinking in what she thinks may be surprise. Presumably, he was not expecting his rescuer to be a Hylian.

She grins in what's hopefully in a friendly way.

"Monsters!" he shrieks, "They're here! Hel-" Stopping short, he stares at her a little more closely. "-lo?"

"Not a monster," Link smiles, holding her hands out. "Just a friend. Like I said, Boss sent me."

"You're a Hylian!" he exclaims in wonder, circling around to get a better look at her. "Whoa, a Hylian, here! You were the one who broke through the crag to rescue me, goro? Thanks, brother!"

This again, Link thinks in resignation; she shakes her head. "I'm a girl, actually."

"Oh. What's a girl?"

Link blinks once.

Yunobo waves a hand almost as big as Link's torso, barely missing her. "In any case, I sure am glad you saved me, goro! The name's Yunobo. Everyone calls me... Yunobo. Makes sense, goro."

"I'm Link. Everyone calls me Link."

He laughs. "Glad we got that sorted, goro! I came to get painkillers for the Boss, but a magma bomb caused a rock slide, and, well." He waves his huge hand; Link instinctively ducks. "You can see what happened. How'd you break it, anyway?"

"That cannon over there." Link points back, waving her own arm. "Like, just the bomb on its own didn't do much, but when it was going fast, it... hit harder, I guess?" She smiles sheepishly. "I'm not totally sure how they work, I just know what they do."

"You used Boss's cannon?" Yunobo stares. "Dang, I thought only Boss could use them, they're so tricky!"

She shrugs modestly. "It wasn't too hard. Anyway," she adds, "You should get those painkillers to Boss, right?"

Yunobo groans, snatching up a package. "Shoot, you're right. You coming? I bet Boss will have a reward for you, goro. He's gruff, but he always repays a favour."

"Sure," she smiles, "And I can tell you what a girl is on the way..."

 

By the time they reach the city, Link is fairly sure Yunobo has grasped what a girl is ("So non-Gorons have two groups, girls and boys, and some girls look like one thing and some boys look like another thing, but not always? Dang, and Hylians look so similar to start with. How do you tell?"

"You ask them!"

"Right! And girls are called sister, not brother?"

"Yeah!"

"Got it. Then, thanks, sister!") and the painkillers are safely delivered. Bludo pops one with a sigh of abject relief, then glances between the two of them.

"It's the tiny traveller!" he exclaims, "You managed to find this lug alright?" He claps a hand to Yunobo's shoulder; even the other Goron nearly topples.

"Link saved me!" he explains as he rightens himself, "I got trapped behind a landslide - but Link used your cannon and got me out!"

Bludo peers at Link even more intensely; raising a bushy eyebrow. "You helped him out, brother? I've gotta give you my thanks, then."

Puffing his chest out, Yunobo hastily adds, "Link's a girl, Boss. She's a sister, not a brother."

"That so?" Bludo says speculatively, "Well, sister, I can't say I've ever been very good at telling apart Hylians. Thanks for your help. Yunobo, you go ahead, go get everything set up."

"Catch you later, Link!" Yunobo says, and he snaps off a salute, hurrying off up one of the paths. Bludo watches him go, then turns back to Link.

"Me and Yunobo best get to work," he explains. "I mean no disrespect to Daruk's legacy, but if I'm not there to give Rudania a good walloping..."

"Daruk," Link echoes softly, caught off guard; flashes of a large solid presence, a friend, in blue...

"Don't tell me you've never heard of the Goron champion, yeah?" Bludo says, and stares. "See that statue up there? That's Daruk!"

Link turns, sees the immense statue watching over them -

_"I'll protect this land to the death!"_

_A clap on the back that nearly sends her flying -_

_"Protecting the king's daughter... no pressure!"_

_"She can't quite see the range for the peaks. Remember that, and you'll be fine!"_

_A rumble, her feet knocked from under her, Daruk a mountain himself, a flash of orange -_

_"As far as I know, Death Mountain has been quiet for decades..."_

_"Forget I said anything, little guy..."_

"I know who Daruk is," Link says quietly, and smiles, remembering solidity and protection.

Bludo blinks at her, and mutters, "Hylians," under his breath. "You know, Yunobo's actually a descendent of the great Daruk? That's why even he can use Daruk's Protection."

Her gaze flickers up the path, where Yunobo disappeared. "That blue scarf," she says, "Was that Daruk's?"

She's wearing the armour, not her tunic. But she can remember the precise shade of blue, the Champions with their Divine Beasts represented on it, and on hers, over the heart, the Master Sword strapped to her back...

"Yeah," Bludo grunts. "He got the blues and he got the Protection. He uses it to protect himself when we fire him at Rudania. That's the only way we can chase that blasted beast away."

Link stops short, and stares at Bludo. "You fire _Yunobo_ at _Rudania_?"

"Got any better ideas? Normal cannonballs won't do a thing!"

Link exhales, harshly in the sulphurous air. "Yeah. Let me go with him. I'll board Rudania and bring it back under control. I've already done the same," she says firmly, meeting Bludo's gaze, daring him to defy her; "To Ruta, Naboris, and Medoh. I can do the same for Rudania."

He stares at her, stares as she jogs off, to find Yunobo.

"I wanna board Rudania," she says as she approaches him, huddled up in his protective sphere from the Moblins she's just taken out.

Yunobo stares much like Bludo. Then: " _What_?!"

Link grins. "Will you help me?"

"You're gonna try to board a Divine Beast?!" he says incredulously, "Who do you think you are, Lord Daruk? It's dangerous in there, goro!"

Link hesitates, then draws the Master Sword, holding it up for Yunobo to see. He falls silent, his eyes fixed on it; they're wide. "I'm not Daruk," she says, "But we were friends. "I'm the Hylian champion. I've already helped calm the other three; I just need to calm Rudania, and then I can go take out Calamity Ganon." She repeats, "Will you help me?"

For a moment, she wonders if she's asked too much; Yunobo's eyes are wide. "But the bridge - the _cannon_ -" He whimpers. "But - I have Daruk's Protection - I can smash into anything and not get hurt -" Yunobo straightens up, holds his head up. "Boss says my ancestor Daruk was a big deal. And I can use Daruk's Protection, just like he can. There's no need to worry, goro!"

Yunobo grins, and claps Link on the back, and she nearly goes flying.

"So rest easy, got it?" he tells her, "Go on, then! Take aim and fire away, goro!"

She grins widely, sheathing the Master Sword and climbing up to the controls. "Got it. We've got this!"

"We've got this!" he cheers, then looks around and adds in a whisper, "Just, y'know... be kinda gentle about it..."

She fires; Yunobo flies across the gap and the bridge comes crashing down. Shaking himself off, Yunobo pats her unsteadily on the shoulder. "We did it… see that, goro… if we put our heads together… anything is possible! That power's really something else, huh?"

"It's not bad," Link smiles; she has a feeling she knows what she'll be inheriting from Daruk.

Yunobo chuckles. "Anyhow, guess my time as a cannonball isn't over just yet, goro. So let's get a move on and cross that bridge, sister!"

"Lead the way," Link says, and he does.


	23. Daruk's Protection

Diving into an active volcano may be one of the more suicidally reckless things Link has done on this journey, but she has the feeling it won't be the last of it.

The inside of the crater is so hot not even the armour helps. She's balanced on a precariously small Divine Beast compared to the vastness of the crater, lava bubbling up from beneath her; if it erupts, not even the armour will save her from being burnt to a crisp. If she had fallen from Vah Ruta, she could have swum. From Naboris, she would land on sand - a hard fall, no doubt, but at least softer than rock. From Medoh, she was high enough that she would have time to get out her paraglider.

If she loses her footing here, she'll simply die, no way around it.

Swallowing past a dry throat, Link taps the slate against the guidance stone, then glances up as Daruk's voice rings out; "Hey, little guy! Long time no see!"

She smiles, even past the misgendering; Daruk means nothing of it. "Hey, Daruk. Wow, could you have picked a hotter spot?"

He laughs. "Suits me okay! I always knew you'd come back, y'know. Never did stop believing in you!"

"Thanks." She's still smiling as she steps into the Beast; the door slides shut and she's left in almost complete darkness. "...Uh."

"I gotcha, little guy." Daruk's voice is clearer, here - it's quiet, the sounds of the crater muffled. "Good thing about being like this, huh - I know this place like the back of my hand. Oh hey, was that chip always there?" He chuckles; Link does too.

She can see yellow - a malice eye. No, two. Both fall to her arrows. "Good thing some of those things glow in the dark, huh?" she remarks, digging in her pack for a torch and lighting it up. "I can take care of the malice and stuff, just guide me to the stone."

It's still not exactly ideal; she has to drop her torch when a Guardian scout suddenly lights up, plunging the room into darkness again, having to find it again by sense of touch to light the next torch. But between the glowing targets and Daruk's guidance, she finds her way to the guidance stone, leans against it in relief as enormous shutters slide open and fill the interior of the beast with the orange glow of the crater.

"That's better," she sighs, then winces as sweat drips in her eyes. "Aside from the heat."

"You should munch on a sapphire," Daruk advises.

"I'd break my teeth!"

"Right! Right, yeah. Hylian." His tone is gentle, teasing. "I gotta say, little guy, I admire your prodigious appetite, but you don't seem to have much taste for the best rocks, y'know?"

Link raises her eyebrows, even as she activates a terminal. "Daruk, Hylians don't eat rocks."

There's a long silence. "...You - don't?" he says, and he sounds almost crushed. "Wait, what about that time I offered you some Grade A rock roast? You ate it right up! Liked it so much you were speechless?"

Link doesn't remember, but just the thought makes her mouth hurt. "Oh. I, uh - well -"

Daruk laughs, shakes it off. "It's all good, little guy. I've had a hundred years to think about it, and yeah, come to think about it, I can't say I've ever seen most Hylians tuck into a juicy gourmet sirloin rock. You want a laugh, you go check out my training journal back in the city, yeah? I, uh. Might have had some _misconceptions_ about Hylians."

In some sort of relief, Link laughs, pushing back her hair. "I will. Oh, uh - can I clear up another misconception?" It's now or never. "Uh - the nickname 'little guy'. I appreciate it, but I'm a girl."

Daruk doesn't answer immediately (probably a good thing, as she's rotating Rudania again, and trying very hard not to fall into the crater as she does). "Wait, you are?" he eventually questions, "Man, and I thought I was getting so good at telling girls and guys apart! Girls are the ones with outcroppings on their fronts, aren't they?"

"Outcroppings...?" Link catches his meaning a second later, and blushes. "I - sort of? Just, some people look like guys but are actually girls. And the other way around, I guess. The Gerudo would call me a vara'vai."

"Vara'vai," Daruk muses. "I think I remember Urbosa talking 'bout that. Vai is girl and voe is guy, so vara'vai is a type of girl too?"

"Yeah!" Terminal activated, she stops by to check a chest, pockets an ancient core, and rotates the Beast again. "Um, I was talking to another Goron - he said Gorons don't have differences like girl or guy?"

'He'? Link frowns. Would that be the right term? Before she can get too deep into it, Daruk replies. "Yeah, more or less. Gorons are Gorons, y'know?"

She's going to have to glide to this next one. Tapping the slate to move the Beast, it starts moving; she shoves it down the front of her tunic and glides to the next terminal. "How come you use guy terms, then? Like 'little guy' and 'brother' and stuff."

Another thoughtful silence from Daruk as she activates the terminal. "Good question! I guess -" He laughs, a little sheepishly. "I guess the first Hylians who met us thought we were all guys, and it stuck." He pauses. "D'you want me to call you 'little lady' instead? If 'little guy' ain't right?"

Link grins, aimed at nowhere in particular. "That'd be nice, yeah. Yeah. Thanks, Daruk."

One last terminal, and they're done. Link checks the map automatically. "Over to the main control unit, right?" she says softly, already on her way. "When I get there, I'll have to fight the Fireblight. Any tips?"

Daruk doesn't answer immediately; when he does, his voice sounds defeated. "I wish I could. But that ugly pain in the crag got the best of me a hundred years ago. I don't _know_ how to beat it." He exhales without breath. "Stay focused, little lady. You got this. I'm with you all the way."

"Thanks, Daruk."

The control unit, and thus the battleground, is on the outside. Biting her lip and casting a wary glance at the lava, Link readies her weapons, the Master Sword on her back, bow at hand, slate accessible on her hip. "Here goes," she murmurs, and prepares to face the last of the Blights.

 

"Great work, little lady," Daruk says, and smiles, and this time, she can see it. "You did good. How's that burn?"

"Manageable." Link smiles back exhaustedly. "I'll get some healing potions and stuff back in the city."

"Yeah, good. And good thinking with getting past that shield, huh?" Daruk's grinning again. "That's the bit that bested me. Nothin' I did could get past it. Wish I had had some magical bombs, huh?"

She smiles sadly. "I'm just glad I could avenge you," she says quietly. "That I could do that for all of you."

He nods, the spirit flames flickering as he approaches, dragging Link into a hug so fierce she can almost feel it. "I feel I gotta apologise. For letting that thing get the best of me. Sorry that me resting with the rubble caused such a mess."

"It's not your fault!" she says immediately, and he lets her go, examines her fierce expression and nods. "Daruk, we didn't know that those things even existed. We weren't expecting it, any of it. Don't blame yourself, okay?"

He smiles. "I almost feel better with you sayin' that. You take care of yourself, okay?" he tells her seriously, and ruffles her hair. "I mean it. Zelda's depending on you."

The sword on her back almost thrums. She closes her eyes. "I know. I'll save her. I will."

"Yeah, you will." Daruk grins at her fondly and claps her on the back. "So, it's time for our century-old Ganon Beat-Down Plan to finally go into effect! I'll take this thing down the mountain for a better shot. And then, once you've made your way into the castle, we're gonna light that thing up!"

She grins, bumps her fist against his. "I'll start getting ready straight away," she says, and then almost stumbles, with the ironic timing of the divine. "As - as soon as I'm fully healed again," she adds, softer.

"Yeah. No sense going after it unless you're at your best." He takes her by both shoulders again, peering into her face; Link feels exposed, alarmingly close to tears.

They're so close.

"Take care of yourself," he says, softer this time. "Promise me."

"I promise."

He grants her protection, lets it sink into her bones, and ruffles her hair again. "From this moment forth, the power of protection from the depths of my soul now lives inside you. May it serve you well."

Daruk steps back; Link feels herself start to fade away.

"Good luck, little lady," he says, his voice growing distant. "And when you see that Ganon jerk, you give him a message for me: 'good riddance, bacon-breath'!"

Link laughs, and waves, and fades away.

 

She meets with Yunobo, grins as he tells her about his vision of his ancestor, about the courage he now feels. Meets with Bludo, is congratulated, granted his Boulder Breaker. Yunobo leads her to the inn, to a specially cooled room just for Hylians, a hot bath, a comfortable bed.

"Night, sister," Yunobo smiles as he departs for the evening.

"Night, brother," Link grins back, and lets herself rest.


	24. Memory 9: Silent Princess

"I can't believe," Link says in the general direction of the castle, "You tried to make me eat a frog."

She's sitting cross-legged in the dappled light of a field of flowers, the sky above searingly blue, the tree above providing a hint of shade. The Master Sword is on her back; there's a royal bow and a knight's shield accompanying it. The quiver has moved to her hips; the paraglider is hitched above them all for quick release.

She has food, healing elixirs. She's found the location of the second-last photo, and now she stares at the malignancy swirling around the castle and rests her fingers on the very last one and hopes, and hopes.

It was home. The castle had been home. Link knew it, knows it; her memories are sufficiently restored that she knows precisely where the photo was taken. She's patrolled the bridge between Zelda's chambers and her personal study so often that it's engraved upon her memory; she may not remember the events that took place there, but she knows where it is.

It's not far into the castle. Not too far, not like the sanctum, the pinnacle of the castle, the epicentre of the malice that radiates from it, infesting Hyrule like threads of fungi winding through soil.

She _knows_ the castle. She knows its grounds and its walls. She learned to climb on those stone walls, her fingers finding the gaps and carvings that let her scale them; she knows the trees and the apples that grow there.

Zelda is waiting for her. She's trained, she's freed the Divine Beasts and their pilots. Her burns are healed. She's well-equipped.

Link is going to go to the castle. She's going to remember, and she's going to save Zelda.

By the time she reaches the moat, she's less confident. There's malignancy coating the castle like a greasy shroud, even the water churning dark with it. She can feel it in her bones, in her teeth; still, she pauses behind a rock and strips her upper body bare, slipping Mipha's armour on. The tunic, she pulls on over it; the rest of her equipment is set back in place.

Goddess, there are so many Guardians.

She slips into the water silently. With every stroke, she pauses to look around; the current carries her in the path of a Skywatcher and she ducks beneath the surface and swims, prays it doesn't see her.

Link hadn't been very religious in he first life. The Goddess was a taunting figure, one who had refused to answer Zelda's pleas.

Now, though, she's praying.

When she reaches the island, she pauses, clinging to the rocks and catching her breath. She's not far from Zelda's chambers, can see them even from her precarious vantage point, but to get there she needs to cross fields of malice, wide-open expanses of dead trees. There are Skywatchers in the air. In the high places, there are single, solitary ones; the Compendium tells her that they are Guardian Turrets, immovable but powerful.

She's going to have to be careful. Quiet, quick. Get in through the gaps.

Link gulps in a breath, and hauls herself on to the island proper.

It's nothing like what she remembers. The trees and their apples are dead, the walls are crumbling. Black-red malice seeps through the soil, taints the water. All around her, there are clouds of red, a miasma obscuring the view of the shore from her; she feels utterly, utterly alone.

Zelda is waiting for her, and that, that is what pushes her feet onwards.

There's a turret nearby, to her right. Keeping a wide berth, she hurries for the shelter of a lookout, ducking inside to avoid another Skywatcher (and helping herself to the bundles of arrows she finds there - it's not like the Guardians have any use for them). From its window, she sneaks another look.

Zelda's room and study are high up, the bridge affording stunning views across the castle grounds - or, at least, stunning views when not corrupted by pure hatred and corruption. She's going to have to climb, and climb hard; Link digs into her pack and wraps cloth around her fingers, leaving just the tips free. She still has some fireproof elixir, and it's gone sticky with age - this, she rubs over her hands.

There are two turrets to the right of Zelda's chambers. She can approach from the left, from the bulk of the castle; gulping in a breath, she slips out the door and sprints for the relative shelter of the walls.

Too slow, too slow; the telltale red light flickers over her feet, fixes on her chest. She puts on a burst of speed and ducks behind a wall and the light flicks out.

Out of range. And frankly, what can the Turrets do now? They're fixed in place. Link grins to herself, rubs her sticky hands together (and then unsticks them again, glancing around self-consciously to make sure no one has seen her glue her hands together), and starts to climb.

 

Zelda's room is in ruins.

It's completely quiet, the sound of Link clambering down the remains of what was once the mezzanine stairs shockingly loud in comparison. She has to drop the last few metres; her knees bend, her boots hit the stone with a thud that raises dust from the silent surfaces.

She's been here before.

The bed has collapsed in on itself, the heavy canopy crushing filthy and dust-caked linen. Link unwraps the sticky and now-torn cloths from her hands, drops them to the floor, runs a hand over the fabric.

They were silk, once. Link had reached out to touch the bed, once. Zelda had been gathering items from her room; Link had not been able to resist reaching out to touch the sheets, soft against her calloused fingers.

A little money chest, tucked into an alcove. A bow, mounted above the fireplace. There's a wardrobe (big), a bookshelf (bigger).

There's a desk, and that's where Link goes, her feet sinking into dust-caked carpet.

It's in ruins, like the rest of the room. Broken shelves scatter scrolls and equipment over the surfaces; spider webs fill the gaps. A map lies torn, charts and diagrams written in faded ink cling to the walls more by virtue of the webs than the rusted pins in them. A hanging plant is long dead, its leaves crumbling when Link brushes her fingers over them.

There are glass tubes, some filled with plant samples. Scrolls of parchment, books with their covers cracked and dusty.

One lies open, the inkwell beside it miraculously still upright. Link gently blows dust off it.

_I turned seventeen today. This means this is the day I will finally be allowed to train at the Spring of Wisdom._

It's a _diary_.

Scarcely daring to breathe, Link lifts the diary reverently, blowing gently on it again to remove the dust and cobwebs before slowly, carefully closing it up. Her hands tremble. A fragment of Zelda's soul is contained in this book, and all the while, she's fighting, fighting to preserve it, fighting to stay herself.

She can almost feel Zelda watching, can almost feel her presence.

"I'll keep it safe," she murmurs, and hugs the diary to her chest. "I'll bring it back to you." Link's eyes close. "Can you hear me? Do you know I'm here?"

_"I can hear you. Hello again, Link."_

Slowly, Link sinks to the dust-covered rug. _She can hear me!_ She wants to sing. Zelda can hear her! It's not just messages from afar, but she's here, she's really here!

"I've missed you." Link's voice is thick; she suspects it may be from tears.

The gentlest of touches. _"And I you."_ Zelda's mental voice cuts off, laughs and weeps. _"Link. I don't know how much longer I can hold on."_

"I'm coming," she says, and lifts her head, gazing in the direction of the Sanctum. Zelda is in there, she knows now, Zelda is fighting for her life, Zelda is waiting for her and she will not last much longer. "I'm coming, I promise."

Forget the memories. Forget recalling whatever happened on the bridge. Zelda needs help _now_. Link tucks the diary down the front of her tunic and climbs back up to the mezzanine, steps out on to the bridge. The halls are shattered, but she can climb, she'll climb over the roof and make for the Sanctum -

Five Skywatchers rise between her and the rest of the castle, and Link remembers, very abruptly, the Turrets. Five red spots appear on her chest; she glances down at them dumbly then up at the Skywatchers.

 _"Run!"_ Zelda's mental voice screams, and Link is already sprinting, scrambling for the study at the end of the bridge; she slams the door shut and it nearly falls off the hinges. On the other side is a window; Link scrambles on to the desk and then a shelf and reaches for the sill, and her fingers find the decorative metal grill in front of it.

She can barely hear the Skywatchers charging their weapons over the frenetic hammering of her heart.

The Slate. Link slips off the shelf, lands half on the desk, knocks off a book that had been lying open. Automatically, Link grabs it, shoving it down the front of her tunic with the diary, fumbling for the Slate.

There is a whine, a high-pitched whine growing louder and louder. There is a red glow around the frames of the door.

There is a single Silent Princess flower, growing amidst the rubble. Link's eyes fall to it, fixated, even as she stabs one finger on the first teleport point that she can find.

"I'll come back," she rasps, and the Slate begins to whisk her away, and the whine turns into a shattering explosion as the study fills with fire.


	25. Memory 12: Fathers and Daughters

Link awakens in pain.

Pain is okay, actually. Pain is quite preferable to the alternative, which is 'dead'. Pain means she, somehow, made it out of the castle, if the softness beneath her is any indication; she can feel bandages around one of her hands and a weight against one side of her face that she suspects is a compress.

Clumsily, she lifts the hand that's not bandaged to her face. The compress shifts; she hisses as her cheek and jaw explode in fire.

"Ah!" An upside-down face appears in her field of view: Impa's granddaughter, Paya, her eyes wide with worry. "You're awake! Please be careful, Miss Link, that pad is full of healing elixir!" She reaches out to adjust it; Link suffers her attentions good-naturedly. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I got run over by a horse," Link says hoarsely, the words cutting off in a cough. "Ow."

Paya leans back, wringing her hands fretfully. "Well, I don't think you were," she confirms, then flushes. "I-I mean, of course, you know that. I'm sure you'd remember getting run over by a horse! Uh, y-you - little Cottla, she found you collapsed outside the shrine. You have some burns on your face and hands, and some of your clothes were scorched. Were you in a fire?"

Link grimaces, then winces as the motion tugs at the burns on her face. "I had a run-in with some Guardians."

Paya's eyes are wide. "O-oh my. Miss Link, those are dangerous!"

"Had to do it. Was in the Castle."

The girl bites her lip. "I should call Grandmother. Th-this sounds important."

She's out the door before Link can even protest. With a sigh, Link settles back, glancing (carefully) around her surroundings - a single futon in a small, cozy room lit by flickering lamps, light curtains rippling in the breeze and not quite concealing the sound of the waterfall outside, a low table and two floor cushions in the corner. There are a few shelves on the walls; Link can see her equipment there, her clothes folded neatly. Hanging from a hook on the door is a thick robe in deep burgundy, and on the table are two old, old books and the Slate, innocuous in its clean lines.

Briefly, she runs an inventory on herself, too. Her hair is loose, left hand bandaged, clad in a nightgown she suspects is one of Paya's own. Her calves are rippled with bruises, and Link winces briefly at the sight; her hands (both of them) aren't much better.

Right, she thinks vaguely, she had thrown up her left hand to shield herself, the right safely tucked away clutching the Slate. She must have teleported just too slow, slow enough for the fire of the explosion to burn her left hand and face, the Guardians never quite reaching her -

Her breath catches in her throat. Link sinks back into the bed linen, feeling sweat prickling on her brow.

The Guardians. The _Guardians_.

If she thinks too much about how close they came to killing her, how close she came to death, she suspects she'd start screaming and not stop for a while. It feels different, somehow - different to the Blights, different even to Lynels and Hinox and Taluses.

Something in her is afraid - terrified - of Guardians.

Link swallows roughly, attempts to stand, and falls back against the futon with a thin groan.

"Be careful, young Link," Impa murmurs from the door frame, Paya shadowing anxiously behind her. Link flushes. "You have sustained injuries - now is the time for rest and recovery, not recklessness. You won't help Zelda by rushing in."

She's hit the nail on the head, without even realising it. Link stares at her hopelessly. "I talked to her," she says softly, "She can't hold on much longer. I wanted to - I tried - but the Guardians spotted me, I had to leave -"

Impa nods slowly, crossing the floor to take a seat beside her. "Paya said you had gone to the castle. Did you feel you were ready?"

Link turns her head, studies the wall. "I - not really." Her voice comes out in a whisper. "I should be, shouldn’t I? I awakened all the Divine Beasts. I freed the Champions' spirits. I have the Master Sword, I remember -" She swallows thickly. "Almost everything. I - I was looking for the place where one of the photos was taken. I knew where it was, in the castle. But I talked to Zelda instead, and - she was desperate, she was losing the fight, I had to _do_ something, but the Guardians -"

Her voice catches.

Impa nods slowly, rising with Paya's help and shuffling to the table where the books lie. They're both deposited beside the futon, along with the Slate. "I recognise these books," she says. "One is the Princess's research notes - I saw her work in it many times. The other is her diary. For now, you should sleep. In the morning, you should read these, please - you may find them enlightening."

Link smiles uneasily. "Okay. Thank you."

The two Sheikah depart. Link hesitates, then reaches for the Slate, flicking back to the photo of the bridge.

It's late, but she's awake now, and too curious to stay away. Turning the lamp up, she reaches for the research notes.

_Today I met with Impa of the Sheikah tribe and began my research into the ancient technology in earnest..._

The notes, if Link is strictly honest with herself, are a bit boring, and she almost finds herself nodding off. There's the occasional interesting tidbit; Link frowns at Zelda's surprise at Mipha's mastery of Vah Ruta, then smiles at Daruk eventually reaching it too; the rest is just about the technology, the science, the bits that Link doesn't necessarily understand.

She just doesn't have the same kind of scientific mind as Zelda, unfortunately; Link finds her eyes glazing over a little.

It's the last entry that gets to her, really - the discovery of the Shrine of Resurrection, that it can heal and that it can hold someone in stasis. The entry finishes with the words, "I can only pray that even if Calamity Ganon returns, our battle will not require the Shrine of Resurrection's power"; Link winces, shakes her head, closes the notes and drops it to the floor with a thump.

(Then retrieves it, dusts it off, and sets it down more carefully. It may be boring science stuff, but it still belongs to Zelda; Link intends to return it to her.)

And then, the diary. The diary, a piece of Zelda's heart; a piece of her soul. Link swallows, reaches for it, opens it.

It starts without preamble, the first entry numbered high and marked with a date substantially later than most of the entries in the research notes. Link frowns and flips through, notes that there's not many entries to the whole thing. How many diaries preceded this one? Are there more pieces of Zelda's soul hidden amongst the decaying rooms of the castle, or is this all that remains?

How much of her past has she lost, lost like Link has lost so much of her own history as well?

_P.S,_ the first entry concludes, _Tomorrow my father is assigning HIM as my appointed knight..._

She has written about Link a lot.

_I never know what he's thinking! It makes my imagination run wild, guessing at what he is thinking but will not say. What does the boy chosen by the sword that seals the darkness think of me? Will I ever truly know? Then, I suppose it's simple. A daughter of Hyrule's royal family yet unable to use sealing magic... He must despise me._

Link draws her knees up, tucks her chin into her arms. "I thought you were beautiful, and interesting, and strong," she whispers to the words on the page. "And I thought you hated me, and I didn't know why. I just wanted to be your friend, but I was so scared, Zelda. I was scared."

_When I finally got around to asking why he's so quiet all the time, I could tell it was difficult for him to say. But he did. With so much at stake, and so many eyes upon him, he feels it necessary to stay strong and to silently bear any burden. A feeling I know all too well... For him, it has caused him to stop outwardly expressing his thoughts and feelings._

Link unfolds her limbs and laughs, rocks back on her good hand, wipes her eyes. "It was a good thing, wasn't it?" she says to the journal. "Losing my memories, I mean. I guess I never told you I was scared, and that I really liked you, and - and even that I was a girl, because I had to be the good soldier. The perfect champion. Right?" She giggles; a tear drops on to the page. "And then I woke up, and all I knew how to be was _me_. Not the Champion. Not a man. Just me."

_I wish to talk with him more and to see what lies beneath those calm waters, to hear him speak freely and openly... And perhaps I, too, will be able to bare my soul to him and share the demons that have plagued me all these years._

"When you're safe," Link says, and it's a promise. "When you're safe, and Calamity Ganon is gone, we'll talk, freely and openly. I'll tell you everything, and I'll listen to you as well. I swear it. No more silence."

The next entry doesn't mention Link at all, save for a mention that they're soon to travel to the Spring of Power; Link bites her lip. ( _"Please, just tell me - what is it? What's_ wrong _with me?"_ ) It does, however, mention an altercation, an argument with the King; Link reads the words over and over, closes her eyes, can see it happen.

If it was just before the Spring of Power - this must be the last memory, then, the last photo to interpret.

Link had dropped to one knee, bowed her head before the King. Zelda's hands had curled into fists.

The King had demanded that Zelda stop treating her duties as a game - childish, he had called them. Link had bitten down on the inside of her cheek until she had drawn blood, to calm her breathing, to stop herself from crying out, _she's giving everything to her mission! She's burning up from the inside to fulfil her destiny! Can't you see she's destroying herself for this?_

"There's nothing more I can do!" Zelda had cried, and she had done so with the desperation of a girl who had done everything.

She had been a child when she had passed out in freezing waters to try and unlock her gift. For her entire life, she had fought, and fought, and fought, and the King _could not see it_.

"Do you know how the gossip mongers refer to you?" the King had said. "They are out there at this moment whispering amongst themselves that you are the heir to a throne of nothing. Nothing but failure."

The King had departed, and Link had pretended not to see Zelda's tears.

They had never reconciled. Link wiped her own tears away, read the rest. They had never spoken again. The last entry, the morning of her seventeenth birthday, the day that had ended with the Calamity, with death, with despair - she had said she had not yet spoken to her father after his criticism, that she would speak with him after she had returned from the Spring.

But she had returned to Calamity Ganon instead.

_No one would believe a failure of a princess, but... Right now, for no particular reason, I am filled with a strange and terrible certainty that something awful is about to happen..._

She remembers, now. Remembers the last few days, as much as she could. The terrible confrontation on the bridge, the failure at the Spring of Power. The calm of riding horses, the sun setting as Zelda had spoken of her impending birthday, her desire to go to Mount Lanayru. The morning of her birthday, Link waiting as she had written the last entry, ever loyal, ever silent, giving her her privacy as Zelda had poured out her soul and written her fears upon the page, had left the journal open to depart to the mountain.

The Calamity rising. Running to the castle, the darkness not just of night -

Guardians lighting up in red and blue, malice seeping from the ground -

Castle Town, burning -

The Divine Beasts freezing, turning inwards, turning against their pilots -

Running, fleeing, crumpling to the floor in a muddy forest, pushing past their grief, pushing past their fear.

_Mipha, Daruk, Urbosa, Revali, the King -_

No, she doesn't remember everything. She does not remember what had come next, what had led to Zelda bearing the Master Sword to the forest, to Link being laid to rest in the Shrine of Resurrection for one hundred years.

There is still something missing; Link bites her lip and sets down the diary, extinguishing the lamp.

She hurts; goes back to sleep.

She'll remember in the morning.

 

She sleeps in late that morning, her midnight reading probably at least partially to blame for it. Kakariko is already bustling by the time she pushes herself up one-handed, checking her reflection in the screen of the Slate; the burns down the side of her face look less red-raw, her hand aches less.

"Okay," she murmurs, takes a breath, and manages to stand, grinning to herself at her success. Shrugging on the robe, she straps the Master Sword on over it, the belt for the Slate too; it looks kind of ridiculous.

She can't tie her hair back one-handed. Hair tie in hand, she shuffles out the door, finding the one opposite her open, Paya busily writing at her desk.

"Hey, Paya?"

The Sheikah girl starts badly, spinning around and beaming. "Miss Link, you're looking much better!" she says enthusiastically, "Would you like some breakfast? Well, it's nearly time for lunch, actually, but -"

Link's stomach growls loudly enough to cut her off, they both laugh sheepishly. "I'll eat anything," Link jokes, "Breakfast, lunch, brunch, late dessert, a banquet. Whatever you've got."

Paya grins. "W-well, we don't have any banquets, but we do have rice, and soup, and vegetables. I'll get you some!"

She scampers downstairs, Link following more slowly, her good hand wrapped around the bannister for support. Oh, she doesn't like this - this weakness, the pain.

Impa gives her a nod as she emerges into the main room, smiles at her, eyes twinkling. "I hope you enjoyed your reading," she murmurs (Link doesn't even ask how she knows that she had already read them); "Go and eat. Regain your strength."

She murmurs a thanks and goes through the door Impa has gestured to; apparently there's a whole extra section of the house here, kitchen and dining and wash room. Paya is still cooking, so Link drops her hair tie on the table, unbuckles the sword and Slate belts, and goes to freshen up.

It feels good being clean. Link douses her face with water (carefully), scrubs it (even more carefully), and stares at her reflection, the mirror here at least better than the reflection of the Slate.

She looks tired. Tired and bruised and burnt, shadows under her eyes, strain in her muscles. Link knows she's stressed and worried, knows that Zelda is waiting for her and also knows that she can't do anything yet - even walking hurts right now, her entire body aching.

With a sigh that ruffles her bangs, she dresses again, steps out to the magnificent-smelling breakfast and giving Paya a smile.

"This looks great," she says, any sign of weariness carefully tucked away for now. "Thanks for making it!"

Paya beams.

It's a nice day; Link and Paya sit out in the balcony in the sun and watch the village go by. Little Cottla dashes by and hides behind Link; a few minutes later Koko peers around the side of the building, then bursts into a gleeful, "Found you!", sending Cottla, giggling, scrambling away from her sister.

They're good kids. Paya eventually heads off to do the shopping, and Koko reappears, tugs on Link's hand, and leads her to the cooking pot for another cooking lesson, watches her poking her tongue out as she stirs in concentration, wonders what, exactly, had happened to make her worry so much about her little sister.

Koko's practically still a baby herself - an anxious, perfectionist baby who just wants to be like her mother. Link runs (careful) errands, buying carrots and butter from the store, shooting down a bee hive from afar to get honey; she can't stand to see Koko so down, to see her beat up herself so much.

She's only a child. Link strokes her hair as she sniffles into her apples, sitting on the steps in the sun; she reassures the little girl that she _is_ a good cook, that she _can_ be as good or better than her mother. Cottla looks up to Koko like she's a star. She has not failed anyone.

Koko buries her face in the sleeve of Link's robes, and whispers a thank you.

And Paya's cry rings out from the house.

 

There has been a theft.

While Paya has run errands and Impa has rested, a thief has stolen into the house and stolen the orb, the relic that Paya protects so devoutly. She had just worked out its meaning, that it's a key to unlock another shrine; she had been on her way to check up on it and to wait for Link to return.

And she had discovered it had been taken.

No one had seen the theft. Link's back had been to the house as she had sat with Koko; Paya had been running errands, Impa sleeping. The guards had not spotted it; Pikango, normally nearby during his visits, had been off on another journey afield.

Trembling, Paya hugged herself, her hair falling in her face, whispering tearful apologies. Even past the guilt, there's the feeling of violation, that someone had intruded, taken something from her with ill intent; she is shaken and afraid.

Link does not leave her side for the rest of the day.

It's late. Link has been keeping an eye out from the vantage point of her upstairs room; it affords her a view of the village that's broad and sweeping. And it's late, and she's yawning, and she sees Dorian say goodnight to Cado and leave for his shift - then, outside his house, look around furtively and start hurrying up to the path to the Fairy Fountain.

Link frowns. She's only in her nightdress and dressing gown, but she still straps on the Master Sword and Slate, wriggling out the window and landing lightly, barefooted, on the porch. Clambering down the side (painfully; her hand is still bandaged) to avoid arousing Cado's suspicions too, sticking to the shadows, she watches as Dorian starts the climb up.

She's not far behind him. Paya had asked to look for suspicious behaviour; Dorian is one of the few who would have had the opportunity to steal from the house.

"How could they?" he mutters, the sound carrying in the night air, and breaks into a jog.

Link follows, bare feet in the long grass moving soundlessly.

He's taking the path past the Fairy Fountain, further up the mountain and into the woods. Fireflies are thick in the air; an owl hoots and Link starts. Dorian crosses a rough bridge, just logs lashed together, and stops beside -

Beside a shrine platform, the orb waiting beside it.

Link darts across the bridge and behind a tree, biting her lip. Dorian had stolen the orb, then? For what? Why? What had he meant, 'how could they?', who was 'they'?

"Show yourself!" Dorian demands, and Link's breath catches. But he's not talking to her. "I know you're there - show yourself!" He draws his sword, facing the platform.

There's a familiar chuckle. A Yiga blademaster, windcleaver in his hand; Link imagines him smirking behind the mask. "You don't have to shout. I'm right here."

"How dare you take our heirloom?" Dorian says, and it's a snarl, and Link swiftly mentally apologises.

She thinks it's straightforward. She thinks that the Yiga has stolen the heirloom for their own purposes; that Dorian has no involvement in this other than wanting to retrieve it. She thinks wrong.

"You knew what you were getting yourself into when you decided to leave the organisation," the blademaster says, "You forfeited your life the moment you left."

Link swallows past a dry throat, her good hand clinging to the bark of the tree. Dorian had been a member of the Yiga clan; Dorian had left. They had stolen the orb to punish him, to punish the village. Dorian had told them about the orb in the first place, and now his use was over, and now the Yiga were going to kill him.

Link draws her sword, barefoot, in a nightdress and dressing gown, hair loose, hand bandaged, and steps forward. "You want a real enemy of the Yiga?" she taunts, and slips into a battle position easily. "I'm right here!"

They fight. She wins. Barefoot and in a nightdress, she wins, and the tip of the Master Sword does not waver before the blademaster's throat.

He snarls once and vanishes, and Dorian turns to her, suddenly looking a decade older. "This is all my fault," he says, and sinks to the ground.

He had done it for love. He had been part of the Yiga, yes. And he had fallen in love. The girls had been born, and he had sought a new life, a new, more peaceful life for his family, for the love of his daughters. They had left, then, left for Kakariko, for Impa's mercy.

The Yiga had killed Dorian's wife, Koko and Cottla's mother, for that.

He had spied. Had fed them information about Impa, about the heirloom, about Link herself, for the sake of the safety of his family. And when his love for his village, for Impa and Paya, had outweighed his fear, he had cut all ties with the Yiga.

"Impa and Paya won't hate you," Link says quietly, the sword sheathed again, her knees drawn up to her chest. "They'll understand, I think - that you did it for love, for your daughters. And they'll protect you. You _and_ the girls."

Koko, weeping by the cooking pot, wanting to be as good as her mother. Cottla, playing hide and seek, searching for her mother, only hiding, only hiding. Link's heart aches for them.

She needs to defeat Calamity Ganon for all their sakes - for Zelda, but also for Dorian, for Koko and Cottla, to protect them from the Yiga who won't give up so long as the Calamity exists.

"I'll put things right," she promises Dorian, and he smiles, clasping her shoulder.

"I have no doubt that your own father would be proud of his daughter," he says sincerely, and Link finds herself smiling involuntarily, her eyes wide. "I will go home to mine. You awaken the shrine. You'll save us all, Champion."

Barefoot, in her nightdress, Link does, claims the orb, returns to the village. It's quiet, restful, fathers and daughters sleeping under the night sky.

She goes to bed. Tomorrow, she will set this right. Tomorrow, she will make her father proud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Illustration: "[You want a real enemy of the Yiga? I'm right here!](http://ryttu3k.tumblr.com/post/171332076570/tfw-you-get-your-ass-kicked-by-a-champion-in-bare)"


	26. Memory 17: Zelda's Awakening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy first anniversary, Breath of the Wild! Have some intense emotional trauma!!
> 
> Chapter warning for depiction of a panic attack.

"I think," Impa says, "You are now ready."

Link is dressed again, in the Champion's tunic, boots and gloves; the Slate on her hip, the Master Sword on her back. She's bent over her pack, stuffing it with healing foods, elixirs, extra arrows, and when Impa speaks, she lifts her head.

"To face Calamity Ganon?" she asks quietly, and Impa exchanges a glance with Paya.

Her voice is calm. "There is just one thing left for you to do." Gaze flicking to the side, Link follows it, finds the painting there, the one she's never noticed before.

A chill drops down her spine.

"You know where it is, do you not?" Impa is staring at her, staring at her staring at the picture. "You know what happened there."

"Blatchery Plain," Link whispers, and her mouth goes dry.

She's always avoided it. Taken the long route around to avoid cutting through the field. She's stopped at Dueling Peaks stables before, and has spent sleepless nights, hyper conscious of the dead and decayed Guardians scattered amongst the long grass.

Something happened there, something she knows in the back of her mind but has never acknowledged, never thought too hard about it for fear of what she would find. And Impa thinks she's ready?

Her pulse is roaring in her ears.

"I'll go," she says.

It's still early in the morning when she leaves, following the path from the village south. She dawdles; she stops to find Koroks, to clear out a Bokoblin camp. Stops for a spot of cooking, making a midday meal in the cooking pot there. When she reaches the fork in the road, she takes the one to the stables, spends time looking for treasure and taming horses, because she's scared, she's so Goddess-damned scared she can barely acknowledge it, can barely bring herself to look back at the Plains and the remnants of what she's beginning to remember as a battle.

She can't sleep that night.

The morning is bright and warm, a sunshiney, joyful sort of day. Link is trembling as she washes in the pond near the shrine and dresses again, her breath is unsteady as she checks her supplies.

Turning her back on the Dueling Peaks, her heart racing so fast she's surprised she can't see it through her tunic, she steps into the fringe of comforting trees, into Bubinga Forest. Blatchery Plain and the Ash Swamp are to her left; she keeps her head down and keeps walking.

There's no ignoring it any more. She turns away from the shelter of the trees and walks unerringly into the midst of Ash Swamp, her eyes hot with tears.

There's a rock, rising nearby. Guardians, shattered, immobilised. Link sinks to her knees involuntarily, her fingers curling into the soil; she gazes up at the biggest and most menacing of them all.

She remembers the pain. The rain, not quenching the ashes in the air. Shattered Guardians, still sparkling feebly; others, fully functioning, menace rolling off them.

Pursuing. _Hunting_.

She remembers struggling to stand. Zelda begging her to save herself and to go, to flee; Link knowing that that was never, ever going to be an option.

The Master Sword had been hot in her hand. She couldn't have let go even if she wanted to, the sacred blade as battered and as wounded as she had been.

"I'll be fine," Zelda had pleaded, "Don't worry about me, run!"

Link had shook her head, sucked in a painful breath, and pushed herself to her feet. The nearest Guardian had heard; the nearest Guardian had taken aim.

Red light had filled Link's vision, and she had thought, _at least, if I can't deflect this, a headshot will kill me instantly_.

And Zelda had cried out, shoved Link aside, flung her arms out, and -

White-gold light flared, so bright that Link found herself blinded, dazzled, only able to see her -

Standing before the Guardian, reaching out, the sacred symbol searing itself into Link's vision -

The Guardians crumpling, collapsing, _gone, defeated_ , Zelda's power warm and magnificent and filling every cell of Link's body, purging the evil from around them -

And Link had smiled, smiled as she had closed her eyes in relief and crumpled to the ground.

_"Link! Link, get up!"_

She tries to smile. It's okay, though, isn't it? Zelda is safe. She found her power.

Zelda is crying. "You're going to be just fine," she whispers, her voice cracking and trembling. 

Link manages to open her eyes, and gives her a look that very plainly means, _I highly doubt it_.

Strength falls from her limbs like rainwater. She feels herself go limp; she can't feel Zelda's tears against her skin; the sword in her hand is searing hot and she can't feel it either.

If she's going to die, then that's okay. It is. Zelda is safe. Zelda awakened her powers. Zelda doesn't need her any more; she fulfilled her duty.

If she's going to die, then there are worse ways to go, lying in Zelda's arms.

She hears Zelda's voice like a whisper. She hears cries, determination. She feels herself rising; she thinks, _this is it_ ; she thinks, _I'm sorry_ ; she thinks, _I love you, Zelda_.

And then she doesn't feel anything at all.

 

She can't breathe.

She's crumpled in a heap in the grass; she's shaking like a leaf. The sun is shining, but she feels it still; the rain, the pain, the growing chill in her limbs. She can smell the ash, the sharpness of ancient weapons in the air. She can smell her own blood.

Link presses her hands over her ears, folds them back, crushing them under her fingers. She can hear the grinding sounds of Guardians, the sound of their weapons charging. In her mouth, she tastes blood.

Blood surging, hands trembling, Link bends double and screams.

 _She can't breathe_.

Here was the place she had died, and she can remember it, can remember every detail; can remember the pain and then the numbness of pain and sensation fading away. She can remember what it's like to have her life slip through her fingers, what it's like to _die_ , she can remember _dying_ -

She screams, and it's hoarse and strangled because she can't breathe, because her chest is heaving, because she can't draw the air into her lungs; blood drips from her lips where she's bit her tongue and there's purple spots dancing in her vision.

Over the roaring of her own blood in her head, she can hear someone cry out her name.

She can't breathe. She can't.

Strong arms wrap around her, pull her into a lap. A large hand strokes her hair, her back; a voice, quiet and reassuring, tells her to breathe, just breathe.

She's okay. She's safe. Just breathe.

The screaming turns into sobbing. Wild, uncontrolled; they heave out of her, curling her around each one like she's trying to keep them in. Each breath she pulls in is shuddering; she finds herself coughing around a sore throat. The arms around her stroke her back, rock her; she feels a kiss pressed into her hair.

"You're okay. You're safe, my sunshine. I've got you. Just breathe."

White skin under her cheek, dark red on the arms wrapped around her. Sidon's voice telling her not to give up, that she's okay, that she can do it.

He stays with her until her sobbing slows, until she can look up again and find him smiling worriedly down at her. One hand shifts, strokes her cheek. "Are you okay?" he murmurs.

She nods muzzily. "I am now," she whispers; her throat still hurts. "What are you _doing_ here?"

"Paya wrote to me." He shifts; she settles better in his arms. "She knew what your task was to be; the night before you left, she sent me a letter and asked me to accompany you here. I'm sorry I couldn't be here sooner!"

Link's smile is weak. "You got here just in time." She lets out a shuddering sigh, shakes her head. "It - wasn't a happy memory."

Sidon nods solemnly. "Paya didn't know the details, just what Impa had told her. She had said that the two of you had spoken about me; she couldn't accompany you herself, but thought that I would be able to help you."

Link pushes herself upright, takes Sidon's face in both hands, and kisses him hard enough that her still-aching chest protests from the lack of air.

When they draw apart, she thinks Sidon's face may be a little more red than usual. Despite herself, Link grins.

"Goodness," Sidon murmurs, and grins back. "I must only presume you're feeling better!"

"More or less." She shakes her head. "Remembering how you died, it's - not fun."

"I can only imagine." He falls silent; Link wonders, just for a moment, if he's thinking about Mipha. "We should go. Back to Kakariko, then?"

"Yeah."

Link exhales, holds out her hand to help Sidon up (not an easy feat, admittedly, when he's twice her height, but it's the thought that counts). They remain hand in hand; they start through the field.

She hears the beeping, growing in volume and speed, half a second before she spots the red light marking Sidon's chest.

There's no time to cry out, no time to even think. Link is small but strong, and when she shoves Sidon out of the way, he goes sprawling in the mud and grass; the ancient weapon strikes Link's out-thrust shield and is deflected away.

Her heart is racing again. Her breath comes rapidly; her eyes are wide and alarmed as they search the field.

"There!" Sidon calls, thrusting one arm towards the Guardian (not destroyed, not decayed; immobilised but still alive, still alive!); he scrambles up and leaps to get behind one of the dead ones.

The Guardian stops tracking him. Takes aim at Link. She dives, the weapon raising flames in the grass.

Sidon calls out from behind his shelter. "What's it's weakness?"

 _No,_ Link wants to say, _No, we can't fight it, it'll kill us, it'll kill me again, we can't, we can't -_ She thinks there may be tears in her eyes again. Her heart is racing so fast it hurts.

"Eye," she manages to rasp, "The eye."

He nods. "Get ready to deflect," he tells her grimly, and he draws the spear on his back from its scabbard. When he next dives into the grass, all she sees is a flash of red.

She wants to hide. She wants to run.

Sidon is depending on her. Link flings herself out from the other side of the dead Guardian, draws the live one's attention. She backs off slowly, sidestepping carefully; she's moving slow enough for it to keep track of her carefully.

There's a red mark on her chest.

Her heart is racing.

It fires; she flings up her shield and deflects it; it bounces back almost perfectly and strikes its own eye piece. For a moment, it flails, twisting violently; twisting violently because there is a Zora atop it, balancing even as it quivers and trembles, and Sidon's spear flashes in the morning sun as he drives it hard into the Guardian's eye.

She's still shaking when Sidon takes her hand again, drops to his knees to kiss her again. "It's gone," he murmurs. "Dead. We did it, both of us."

Link nods, and she gazes past him at the wreckage. They had done it, hadn't they? Together, they had conquered it.

Sidon squeezes her hand. "Are you okay?"

She looks up, and to her own surprise, she smiles. "I am," she confirms, and leans forward to kiss him. "Yeah, I'm okay."

They make it back to the stable. Start the walk back up to Kakariko; if they don't dawdle, they'll be there by nightfall.

She knows what tomorrow brings.

Tomorrow she'll follow the Sahasra Slope. Rejoin the road, take it down to the river. Follow it until it becomes a part of the moat.

Enter the castle.

Fight the Calamity.

Free Zelda.

Tomorrow, it ends.


	27. Hyrule Castle

They've brought her gifts.

They're waiting for her at Impa's place when Link and Sidon return to Kakariko, bundles in a neat pile, Paya keeping a watchful eye on them. When they enter, she rises with a smile; gestures.

"M-Miss Link. Grandmother had been writing to people, and, well -" She exchanges a glance with Sidon, smiles. "They want to show their thanks."

Overwhelmed, Link settles before them, reaches for the largest bundle and unwraps it to find a magnificent shield. She's caught by it, traces the bold red bird against the blue; glances up at Paya questionably.

"From Hateno Village. It's said to be a replica of - of the one the Legendary Hero of millennia past wielded." Paya glances at the Master Sword on Link's back, adds, "There's a lot of art of the Hero w-with the Blade of Evil's Bane and a shield just like this."

Link slips it on to her left arm, her healing hand curling around the strap. "Wow," she breathes, testing it, thrusting out with it. "It's balanced _perfectly_."

But there's more still.

"From the Gorons - elixirs for strength, defense, and healing. They've been boiled down to their solid components, so you just need to chew them, instead of having to carry a lot of bottles around."

"From the Rito - a quiver and - goodness, those are a _lot_ of arrows, aren't they?"

"From Robbie and from all the Sheikah - Ancient Arrows. These can strike down a Guardian in a single hit, if you hit the eye piece."

"From the Koroks - Deku seeds. These allow you to stun enemies. You throw one down and they cause a bright flash."

"From the Gerudo - a diamond circlet. Diamonds have m-magical properties, you know - they can protect against ancient weapons."

(Link settles the circlet on her brow, turns to Sidon. "How do I look?"

"Lovelier than even Princess Zelda."

Link flushes.)

There's nothing left of the bundles, nothing from the Zora. Link turns back to Sidon quizzically, and finds him kneeling before her. "Link, on behalf of the Zora, I offer you myself."

(Link flushes again.)

Impa interrupts, thankfully, before Link can spontaneously combust: "We still have old maps of the castle and its grounds," she explains, "And if you follow the road down to the river, you'll be able to take to the waters and head straight into the docks at the castle's north. You might have a few Lizalfos and Octorocs to deal with -"

"But," Sidon continues, and there's new weight to it, "But, this way we'll avoid nearly _all_ of the Guardians that surround the castle. My gift to you is safe passage."

Link closes her eyes, says a quiet word of thanks, reaches to embrace him. "Thank you," she whispers, and her heart is light, so light for knowing that she has a safe path.

She has weapons, equipment. Things to heal her. She's regained many of her memories, has freed the Divine Beasts. There is nothing left to do save one thing, and one thing only.

"Tomorrow," she says, and she can feel the eyes on her, Sidon's, Impa's, Paya's; "First thing tomorrow, we'll start for the Castle."

 

The first part of the journey to the castle is almost pleasant.

Link and Sidon leave Kakariko to the waves and cheers of the villagers, geared up and ready for the siege on the castle. The wooden chimes that line the path out to Sahasra Slope clink gently in the breeze, the slope itself is sunny and clear, only a few Bokoblins needing to be dispatched. The road, when they find it, is quiet; they reach the river when it's still reasonably early in the morning.

(If it's a little more awkward straddling Sidon's broad back this time, given their relationship, at least she's not the only one feeling it. Sidon gives her a sheepish smile, then reaches back to squeeze her knee; she gives his shoulder a squeeze back.)

She has her bow in hand now. The river has both Lizalfos and Octoroks; neither would be a significant problem, but the less trouble they have, the better.

They'll have plenty of trouble as they approach the castle.

Indeed, it's as they start to near it when Link's breath catches; she taps Sidon's shoulder urgently.

He nods, and starts silently making for the side of the river, where there's an outcrop they can shelter behind. "I see it. What do we do?"

Link's hands are shaking. The Guardian Stalker - fully powered, fully mobile - is stationed on a cliff top overlooking the river; there is no doubt that if they swim past, they will be spotted.

She exhales.

Link has defeated them before. She has. Not Stalkers, not in this life, but in the past - she knows she's taken them down.

"Ancient arrows," she murmurs, and slides one free from her quiver. "Remember what Paya said? They can take down a Guardian in a single hit if you hit the eye."

There's a thousand doubts in her mind, a lump in her throat. She'll have only one chance at this. Once it sees her, she'll have one clear shot at the eye before it strikes; miss, and she'll lose the element of surprise, have a fight on her hands.

Swallowing past the lump, she turns back to Sidon. "Can you take me across the river? I'll climb up - it won't be able to see me. I'll try getting behind it, aim, then get its attention. It goes still when it's -" She swallows again - "When it's charging up."

Sidon rests a hand on her cheek; he looks troubled himself. "Give me one of the arrows," he suggests, patting his own silver bow. "I can cover you."

"Yeah. Yeah, good idea."

She has five; to Sidon, she gives two. Her bow clutched so tightly her knuckles are white, Sidon transports her back across the river, then swims back to keep her covered from the other bank, where he can keep an eye on the Guardian.

Tucking her bow away, Link rubs her hands together, then starts to climb.

_Okay, ugly,_ she thinks, and hauls herself up on to the cliff top, _You're mine._

 

There are no more Guardians in their immediate path after that. A few Skywatchers as they approach closer and closer; they keep well clear of them, Link is mindful of what happened the last time she was spotted, the last time she thought she was safe.

Her heart is in her throat as they approach the entrance to the docks. Her nails must be pressing into Sidon's shoulders, although he doesn't complain.

It's dark inside, lit only by a few torches. They pause for a moment in the shelter of an outcrop, waiting for their eyes to adjust; Link spots movement and taps Sidon's left shoulder twice, their signal for 'enemies nearby'.

Just a couple of Lizalfos. Sidon reaches the dock and helps her up on to dry land; Link draws her bow and takes aim.

It turns at precisely the wrong moment, hisses as her arrow misses by an inch, and lets loose a shock arrow. "Take cover!" she almost shrieks; there's a flicker of peripheral movement as Sidon dives beneath the surface again and she has to dodge hard to the right to avoid the next arrow, and grabbing her sword with the wrong hand, she relieves the Lizalfos of its head.

Shock arrows. How could she have missed that they could have had shock arrows, lethal to a Zora?

There's a flare from somewhere behind her - a shock arrow striking the water, from another Lizalfos posed high. Link's throat is tight as she backs up, readies another arrow; there's another one bounding in her direction, but this one, this one has a clear shot of the water, the water that will spread the effects of the arrows -

It staggers and falls, hits the surface. Not quite dead yet, but it can't shoot in the water; she dodges the jet of water it spits at her and buries the next arrow neatly in its skull, then pivots on one foot to avoid the next arrow, blinking back the spots in her eyes as it flares against the water's surface.

The next Lizalfos goes down to her sword too, and she drops to one knee. "Sidon?" she calls, her voice raspy, a quaver in it. "Sidon?"

She's about to risk diving back in when the water's surface breaks, and Sidon hauls himself back on to land. He's moving clumsily, and Link drops her sword and bow and hurries to him, helping him flop back against the stone.

"I'm okay," he says wearily, eyes closed. "I managed to evade the shots. I won't lie, though, it was dicey there for a few moments!"

Link doesn't respond verbally, just clings to him, her eyes still shut.

They had had shock arrows. If one of them had struck him, if one of them had even struck _near_ him, near enough for the electricity to catch him in its field - 

It doesn't bear thinking about.

"Stay behind me, okay?" she orders, more pleads. He nods, helping her rise.

(Admittedly, it won't do a lot of good - he's just a little taller than her - but at least she can have bow at the ready, at least she can provide some defense.)

There are no more enemies in the docks, just a few keese that are easily dispatched (the regular kind, too, not the electric kind). At the top, she pauses; there's a circle of torches, a large cauldron full of wood in the middle. It's similar to puzzles she's seen before, puzzles she's seen in shrines.

Shrines...

There are crates and barrels up here, most shattered and empty. Link collects a cord of wood, dips it in one of the torches, and tosses it in the cauldron; it lights up. For a moment, nothing happens.

And then the tiles fold back on themselves, and the shrine rises from its buried depths.

"Perfect," she grins, and taps her slate to the opening panel. "I won't do this now, but now we can warp back here whenever we need."

Sidon nods enthusiastically. "Wonderful! If we get separated, I'll make for this area - we can meet here."

Link nods too, gazing at the entrance to the shrine, worrying her lip. If they get separated, and Sidon finds himself here alone... if there were Lizalfos here with shock arrows, then there's no reason why they couldn't bring more...

She makes a decision.

"Okay," she says quietly, and gestures to a passage like a pool of darkness. "Looks like there's a way up there, and then we'll be going into the castle proper. Hug for luck?"

"Of course," Sidon murmurs, dropping to his knees to hug her properly.

She squeezes back, eyes shut, breathing steady. The slate is in one hand; she wraps her arms around Sidon and presses down on one shrine point in particular. And she holds on, holds on tight as the slate dissolves her, dissolves Sidon -

 

They re-materialise in the the shrine in Zora's Domain, the shallow waters casting rippling reflections over the walls, the sound of running water a comforting white noise. Sidon opens his eyes and jerks back, glancing around wildly at his home.

"What - Link -?"

"I'm sorry," she murmurs, and smiles despite her prickling eyes. "But the shock arrows - they could have really hurt you, Sidon, and I don't know what there is ahead. You succeeded. You gave me safe passage and protected me from Guardians. Now let me repay the favour and keep you safe, too."

He looks stricken, hands falling limply away from her. "I can help you!" he says, a pleading note in his voice. "I can fight, you know I can - you don't have to do this alone!"

"I think I have to." She reaches for his hands; he capitulates, squeezing her shaking ones back. "Sidon, I'm the Chosen Hero or whatever they call me. Calamity Ganon is my responsibility. I don't know if I can beat him. But I do know that I'll never forgive myself if you get hurt because of me."

Sidon pulls her into a hug, back-breaking enough to rival a Goron; she clings back for all she's worth. "Stay safe," he whispers into her hair. "Please. I'll never forgive myself either if you get hurt because I wasn't there."

She smiles crookedly, then pulls back only so she can kiss him.

They part, walking hand in hand up the stairs, Sidon darting away just long enough to clear out the shop's stock of arrows for her, to get her fresh water to drink. She accepts the gifts, then straightens her back, gazes up at Mipha's statue, gazes up at Sidon.

"I'm ready. I'm going to beat Calamity Ganon. I'm going to save Zelda, and avenge Mipha. I'll see you again. Promise."

"You'd better, my sunshine. My hero. Fight well. Stay safe."

One last kiss. Link closes her eyes, presses down on the new symbol on the slate, lets it take her away.


	28. Calamity

There are Lizalfos in the library too, these ones armed with ice arrows instead of shock. She doesn't know what they would do to a Zora, doesn't have to worry about it because Sidon is safe and sound back at the Domain. She dispatches them, gathers arrows to reuse; starts looking for a way out.

Once, she pauses by the old cookbook and smiles. Fruit cake - Zelda's favourite.

One passage is blocked, rubble piled up high. The other is clear; she glances down it then pauses, brow furrowing.

No. No, that's not right, that way leads to the armoury and the dining hall. And she can feel it now in her bones, knows the Calamity is waiting for her in the sanctum.

 _I'm coming for you,_ she thinks, and hauls herself up one of the damaged book cases towards where the roof is shattered like an egg. _I'm nearly there._

Back outside, back into the toxic air. This time, she steers well clear of sentries, from the skywatchers and turrets. Once, she has to behind a tree, barely breathing as the skywatcher hums past; another time, she must avoid the humming that signifies another hiding in wait.

At the sanctum she breathes in deeply, exhales. Checks her weapons, her bow and her quiver; the shield on her arm. The Master Sword is glowing bright enough she can see it through the scabbard.

"Zelda," she says out loud.

 _"Link."_ Her reply is immediate. _"Please - I don't know how much longer I can hold on -"_

"It's okay, Zelda," Link says, and unsheathes the Master Sword. "I'm here."

Above her head, above where the king once sat, at the highest point of the castle, is the source of all their misery. Above her head is a pulsating red sack of disgusting malignancy.

She's shaking. There's an acrid taste in her mouth, she blinks back suddenly watery eyes. Her heart is pounding so hard her chest aches; her breathing comes out fast and ragged.

 _"I'm sorry,"_ Zelda whispers. _"I can't hold him - my power isn't strong enough -"_

Link takes one step forward, then another. "I'm here," she repeats, and her voice trembles but the words are clear. "You can let go. I'll take it from here."

There's a sound almost like a sigh. The sack quivers; it heaves. Something like a Guardian's beam strikes out, lashing out blindly, aimlessly, sending stone shattering.

Calamity Ganon lands before her with a thud that shakes the foundations, a twisted mass of malice, of Guardian parts; the stone shield beneath their feet shatters and it falls, it falls and takes Link with it.

 

Link lands lightly, whispering thank yous to Revali in her mind, and stands her guard.

The Calamity rises above her. Spider-like limbs, oozing malice and Guardian parts both, orange gleams like the malice eyes stare at her from a multi-segmented body. Weapons are clutched in its multiple arms; it turns, turns and stares her down.

Perhaps the Calamity was human, once. The face is humanoid, two eyes, a mouth. There's a crown, there's a mane of red hair.

But the face drips with malice ooze. Its eyes glow red. If the Calamity was human once, it clearly is not any more.

"I've come to stop you," Link says, and her voice is calm, her hands are steady. There can be no further fear, no further hesitation; she will defeat the Calamity now, or she will die. "I've been waiting a hundred years for this. And I'm not the only one."

Her thoughts fly outwards. Revali, confident and sarcastic. Urbosa, warm and motherly. Daruk, solid and steady.

Mipha. Beautiful Mipha, stronger than she ever had thought.

"NOW!"

_"Brace yourself, Ganon, for the sting of my revenge!"_

_"We will not fail!"_

_"Open up wide, Ganon!"_

_"Hold on, Princess. Our moment has arrived!"_

Four Champions, four Divine Beasts; four friends, four who have waited for far, far too long. Their strike comes with blinding intensity, Link leaping back and shielding her eyes, and the Calamity _screams _, screams as the Champions' might fulfils the task they were made to do, a century in the making.__

__When the smoke clears, the Calamity is shuddering, ragged and ruined. But it's still standing, and so Link must keep standing too, Master Sword in hand, the hopes of Hyrule on her shoulders._ _

__"My turn," Link says, and wades into the fray._ _

__They fight._ _

__All of them, together; they fight._ _

__Link swings the Master Sword in devastating sweeps, she aims Ancient Arrows at what passes for the Calamity's face. With her shield, she deflects blows; when one of the multi-segmented legs sends her sprawling and she can't pick herself up in time, Daruk's Protection saves her from a punishing blow. When the Calamity climbs up high, out of reach, Urbosa's Fury brings it back down to Earth; when she hits the wall with a shuddering crack that she can feel in every bone, Mipha's Grace helps her to her feet again._ _

__They fight, all of them, together._ _

__It falls. It falls, shuddering, at her feet; Link draws back the Master Sword and plunges it into the Calamity's skull._ _

__Calamity Ganon does not do things by half, even in death. It rears back, screams. Malice sluices off its body, disappears into vapour; violet light, so bright it hurts to look at it, shines out from its body. And it explodes into light and fire, red and black fading into the air, what's left of it coalescing into a swirling clump of nothingness above her, fading, weakening, rising into the air like smoke -_ _

__Every limb tingling, Link feels herself dissolve into gold._ _

__She reforms in the field, a startled pack of wild horses scattering, and feels her eyes prickle, feels her heart start to race. Before her, the darkness is coming together again, shifting, heaving; Zelda is speaking and she sounds so, so tired -_ _

___"Ganon was born out of a dark past,"_ she whispers, weary to the last. _"He is a pure embodiment of the ancient evil that is reborn time and time again..."__ _

__A sob makes her voice catch; Link yearns to reach out, to comfort her -_ _

___"He is pouring every last chance of reincarnation into this pure, enraged form. If set free upon our world, the destruction will be unlike anything ever seen before."_ _ _

__It rises up, a four-legged body of swirling malice, a mane of fire, and screams. But above it, above it is gold like the light of the sun, coming into form, descending down to Link's outstretched hands._ _

___"I entrust you with the Bow of Light, the most powerful weapon we have against the face of evil. Link -"_ Zelda's voice catches again, half a sob, half a laugh, all in desperation and encouragement and shining, golden hope. _"You have fought so hard to return to us. You may not be at a point where you have remembered everything. But courage need not be remembered - for it is never forgotten!"__ _

__Link reaches for the bow. She holds a hand out to a horse, the one horse that did not scramble away in fear when the world had turned into a battlefield. "May I ride with you?" she asks, and the horse bows its chestnut head, white mane gleaming in the dark, and lets her climb aboard._ _

__The form the Calamity has taken is intense. On foot, she would run risk of being trampled; on the back of a horse, a brave, swift-footed horse, she stands a chance._ _

___"I will hold the malice back, Link!"_ Zelda calls urgently. _"When you see it, you'll be able to strike. I'll hold it back with the last of my strength!"__ _

__"Got it!" she shouts into the air, the bow in her hand, steering the horse with her legs alone. It forms arrows in her hands with a thought; the malice swirls and breaks apart and light shines forth like a beacon and she aims, she fires._ _

__And she's done this before. She remembers what it feels like, to be astride her horse, to have the Bow of Light in her hand, firing light arrows into Ganon's ugly mug. She remembers how it feels, to be the one with the fate of Hyrule resting on her shoulders, to pour every last ounce of effort into one last desperate struggle; not muscle memory but something deeper, countless lives, countless battles, a heritage that goes back to Hyrule's first moments spurring her onwards, living in her bones._ _

__The Calamity screams, spews red and violet fire. The Calamity rears up, tries to trample her underfoot. Hyrule's would-be demise fights, and Hyrule's hero fights back._ _

__It's deeper than her and the Calamity. It's a battle that's gone on, never ending, to the earliest days of Hyrule._ _

__Zelda spurs her on. Zelda tears apart the malice and finds targets for Link's arrows to sink home into._ _

___"We're so close,"_ Zelda whispers, and then cries out. _"There! Up there!"__ _

__The Calamity is coming apart at the seams._ _

__Link encourages the horse, her brave horse, straight down the gullet of the beast; she leaps from its back and it veers off sharply to safety; she lets Revali's Gale carry her into the air and she draws back an arrow and she says a prayer, says a prayer to every Goddess in Hyrule, and she lets it fly -_ _

__Zelda, bathed in gold, stands before the Calamity._ _

__Zelda, drenched in light, gazes up._ _

__Zelda, glowing like the sun, reaches out._ _

__And the Calamity is dragged down and within, collapsing within itself; the malice evaporates and is replaced with pure golden power, a golden prison, a golden seal; and the red skies become white as the Calamity becomes no more._ _

__There's a gentle breeze over the field, the grass rippling and swaying, and Zelda stands there in waist-deep grass gazing up at the sky._ _

__Link takes a clumsy step forward._ _

__"I've been keeping watch over you all this time," Zelda says softly, and Link's heart leaps in her chest because it's her, it's _her_ , it's truly Zelda standing here before her, the words falling from her own lips, not in her mind or in her memories but breathing the same air._ _

__"I've witnessed your struggles to return to us as well as your trials in battle. Your courage, your wisdom, your power. I always thought - no, I always believed - that you'd find a way to defeat Ganon. I never lost faith in you over all these years."_ _

__She turns, gazing at Link like she's seeing her for the first time. Link's feet carry her to Zelda, feeling the invisible tethers of fate binding them together, bringing them together._ _

__"Thank you, Link. The Hero of Hyrule," Zelda whispers, and her smile is like the sun._ _

__Link stops before her. Her mouth is dry, her palms prickling; Zelda is standing there, watching her with those fathomless green eyes._ _

__"Zelda," Link manages to murmur, the first words she's said since the battle started. "I -"_ _

__They reach for each other at the same time, and it feels like coming home._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are almost at the end! One more chapter and then an epilogue. Thank you, everyone, for sticking with it so far!


	29. Fruit Cake

The first place they go is the Domain.

There's Kakariko, and Impa and Paya would always treat them like guests, like honoured family; fussing, asking questions. There's Hateno, and Link's own little house, and quiet, and calm.

But the Domain has Sidon.

He's sitting on the bottom of the steps leading down to the shrine, waiting, watching; Link sees him rise even before her eyes clear from the quick travel. He splashes through the shallow water, then kneels; takes Link's hand in one of his, gazes up (only a little bit up, Sidon kneeling is more or less Link and Zelda's height standing).

"Link," he breathes, "Your Highness - welcome back."

Zelda is gazing at him dizzily; Link can feel how close she is to collapse again. "Sidon?" she says in a wondering voice, "Little Prince Sidon! The last I saw you, you were only up to my waist -" She laughs, then wavers, and Link tightens her grip at the same time that Sidon reaches out to set a steadying hand on her shoulder.

"Your Highness," he murmurs. "Please, you need rest. I've had quarters prepared, and food, and medicines - whatever you need."

"Rest." Zelda's voice is a whisper; her laugh sounds to be on the edge of exhaustion. "Yes, I think rest would be good."

She stays upright and clinging only to Link's hand, possibly through sheer force of will, as Sidon leads them both to his own chambers. Off in a room to one side is a proper, human-style bed, already laden with blankets and (Link can't help but notice) big enough for two Hylian girls and a rather large Zora prince.

Zelda sits delicately on the edge, then lies back with a little sigh and is asleep before she hits the pillow.

Silently, Link smiles, raises a hand to her lips. Sidon nods, letting Link carefully remove Zelda's bracelets and necklace, her sandals and belt; she's left simple and unadorned, a girl in white, sleeping comfortably for the first time in an unimaginably long time.

"Link," Sidon whispers, the first word any of them have said since leaving the shrine. "You should rest too. I will be here, I promise, and your ordeals have been great. Let yourself rest."

She wants to argue, then decides she doesn't want to after all. Instead, she simply nods, removing her weapons, her gear; sword laid against the wall, Slate on the bedside table nearest to Zelda, boots and gloves, circlet and belt with the rest of her equipment.

"Will you stay?" she whispers.

Sidon nods.

Link smiles, and falls asleep with Zelda (Zelda; safe, alive, here) on one side and Sidon (Sidon; strong, gentle, reassuring) on the other, and lets herself be at peace.

 

When she wakes again, the sun is high in the sky, slanting in through the windows; considering they had arrived at the Domain in the afternoon, she has slept for nearly a day.

Zelda is sleeping still; Sidon has left the bed but still is nearby, in his chambers, writing at his desk. Barefoot, Link slips out from beneath the covers and pads over to him, and he immediately crouches to pull her into a hug.

"You've rested?" he murmurs, and she nods. Hand in hand (and feeling vaguely like a child, given Sidon's height), they slip from the chambers together.

Sidon leads her straight to the kitchens. "I love you," she says, and immediately tucks in to the meal set to one side for her.

He laughs, joining her in the midday meal. And it's good, it's relaxed; Link eats her fill and then some. She and Sidon talk about nothing, the conversation steering around the Calamity, around Zelda.

Right now, she just needs to feel normal.

But her thoughts can't stay far for very long. Link gazes down at her plate, half a mind considering what to bring up for Zelda to eat, and then an idea strikes her.

"Sidon," she murmurs, "Do you have ingredients here for a cake...?"

 

When Zelda does awaken, it's to the sight of a little table pulled up to the bed, a carafe of clear, cool water, a silver cloche covering a meal.

She lifts it, laughs; Link's ears prick up from the other room and she hurries in with a smile, gesturing at the meal. Crusty bread, out of the oven only an hour earlier, aged cheese. A salad of fresh green herbs, a small heap of sauted mushrooms, flaky smoked fish.

And a piece of fruit cake, carefully and delicately iced and topped with fresh berries.

Zelda hasn't been able to rest, hasn't been able to relax, hasn't been able to _eat_ for a hundred years. Link is going to make damn sure her first meal in a century is a good one.

She doesn't eat much, after all; Sidon shakes his head and says it's normal, to be expected after going for so long without. Zelda smiles apologetically, folds her hands in her lap, the picture of grace; Link can't help but notice her thumb rubbing the back of her hand anxiously, though, has to curl her own hands together to avoid doing the same.

Link hasn't said much. She knows, too, that that's something that Zelda would expect; she's seen the words in her diary about Link's silence, about the fears that forced her to hold her tongue. She knows that when Zelda looks at her, she'll see a quiet, burdened boy with the weight of the worlds on his shoulders; with a glance at Sidon, she bites her lip and then begins.

"Earlier, I made a promise," she starts, cautiously, softly, "That when all of this was over and we were safe and the Calamity was gone, we'd talk properly and honestly. So, I'm going to talk, properly and honestly. When I woke up, I didn't know where I was. I didn't even know _who_ I was. All I knew was that there was a voice telling me to wake up, telling me my name was Link, and that I should take the Slate and leave, that I was Hyrule's light, which - no pressure, you know. And then I met an old man and he asked what a young man like me was doing there, and the first thing I said was 'I'm a girl'..."

She tells Zelda that she's a girl, that there's a Gerudo word for girls like her, that she's a vara'vai.

She tells her that she loves Sidon, that he makes her happy, that she adores him.

She tells her that she loves her too, that Zelda has been her guiding star, the one to keep her feet moving when she felt exhausted and overwhelmed and afraid; that she always has.

That she was too afraid to have ever said so in the past.

That she had pushed the mask of a boy with a sword to the front and had hidden her thoughts, her feelings, her heart behind it.

That she had woken up without memories, but had also woken up without preconceptions, without fear; she had woken up not as the Hylian Champion or the Princess's protector, but as herself.

Zelda listens. She listens without interruption, without judgement, and when Link has worn herself out with her words, she reaches for Link's hand and kisses it.

"Link," she murmurs, and meets her gaze, and smiles; "It's very nice to meet you."

Disarmed, Link opens her mouth then closes it again.

Sidon laughs, slinging an arm across her shoulders. "You've stunned her into silence!" he teases gently, chuckling. "I've got to know Link quite well over these past few months. She might have been rather quiet in the past, but normally she's quite the chatterbox."

Link feels her face grow warm. "Sidon," she whines, shoving gently against him. He laughs, nudging her back; off-balance, she topples to the side, letting out a surprised laugh as she does.

Zelda covers her mouth to stifle a giggle; Link's face grows even warmer. She has the absurd desire to hide behind Sidon.

He glances between them, a bemused smile on his face, then shakes his head. "I feel I should let you two reacquaint yourselves -" he starts, gets up to leave; Link immediately reaches for his wrist.

"No," she says, with a shake of her head. "Wait, not yet. We need to -" Exhaling, she puts the words together, tries them out in her mind before letting them leave her lips. "We need to work this out," she says, slowly, almost reluctantly. "This - _us_."

Sidon sits down again.

"I love you," she says to him, and this time his smile is smaller, sadder. "I love being with you, you make me happy and you make me feel safe. I don't want to leave you. And," she continues, and this time, she turns to Zelda; "Zelda - I never told you how I felt about you. You wrote in your journal that you thought I hated you, but I never did, I adored you. And I still do. And I don't want to lose that. I don't want to choose. Both of you are so important to me."

She knows, thought she knew - she thought she knew how Zelda felt. She remembers the song Kass' teacher had taught him.

_The princess's love for her fallen knight awakens her power. Zelda, is it true? Do you still see me that way, now that you know who I am?_

"I don't know if you feel the same way about me," she admits, mostly to the floor. "Or, if you do, if you want this to go any further. Whatever you choose, I'll respect that. But I know I'll regret it forever if I don't tell you that I love you."

Zelda smiles, and there's tears prickling in the corners of her eyes. "I wouldn't separate you and Sidon," she says immediately. "And - I don't know what the future brings. I know you as my knight; I'm not sure if I know you as a person yet. But," she says, and crosses the floor, takes Link's hands; "But, I'd like to try."

The kiss she presses to Link's lips is as soft as rain.

They're both pink in the face when Zelda draws back; Link feels warm down to the tips of her ears. A little laugh bubbles out of her; she's not quite sure she's going to stop grinning any time soon. "Um. Wow."

"I think you broke her," Sidon jokes to Zelda.

"I think I broke _myself_. I've wanted to do that for over a hundred years, Link."

Link's hair must be smoking faintly. It must be. "You could do that some more, if you want," she says instead. "You know, so we get used to it."

Zelda drops another kiss on her lips before Link can properly process the words that have come out of her mouth; they both laugh in the soft, tension-defusing way when they draw apart again. Sidon's arm is comfortable around her shoulder, he's smiling, nudging her in a teasing way; Zelda's hands are warm on her own.

"Can we really do this?" she finally whispers. "All of us, like this?"

"I'd like to try," Zelda nods, and Sidon adds his assent as well.

Link nods. "Good," she murmurs, and stands to kiss Sidon and then Zelda again, and smiles.

 

It's only appropriate, she thinks, the start of a new relationship along with the start of a new era.

Hyrule has been wounded, but it's recovering. It's faced Calamity, but it's survived it. Their past has been full of atrocities, but they have a whole, bright future ahead.

In the days to come, they sit and they talk about the future - their own, Hyrule's. Zelda has no desire to reinstate the Hyrulean monarch; Hylians, once the most numerous of Hyrule's people, are now no more numerous than the other peoples, and Zelda refuses to step in and take over when so many others are thriving on their own.

They travel, Link and Zelda. They speak to others, they listen. And, eventually, Zelda comes to the decision that they will form a senate. A representative for each group, each race; Hylians and Sheikah, Zora and Gorons, Gerudo and Rito. The Koroks, if they wish. Representatives to present the views of their people, to ensure that no one group dominates the others, that no one goes ignored or forgotten.

Whatever Hyrule's future holds, whatever comes their way, they will face it together.


	30. Epilogue - Hyrule, Again

"Well? How... do I look?"

Link smiles, straightening the sky blue sash Sidon is wearing. It brings Mipha to mind, the blue against the red; she gives herself a moment to reflect and remember, then looks up.

"Beautiful. Like a senator."

It's not quite the same as the cloths the Champions wore. The cloth is a brighter, warmer colour, tinted more towards the purples; the crest on it is the new one designed for a unified Hyrule, one incorporating the symbols of all the peoples that live in it.

All the senators have the same. They are not separate; they are unified.

"Right! Right. And you say all the others are good people too?"

"Of course." Link squeezes his hand reassuringly. "I don't know Traysi very well, but she knows Hyrule like the back of her hand, she's good with people, everything. Yunobo and Vilia helped me out so much last year - Vilia was the one who taught me what 'vara'vai' meant -" Sidon nods in sudden understanding - "And Kass is lovely. Paya is a bit shy and Hestu can be a little oblivious, but they're both really nice, too."

It's a good combination they have.

Perhaps hearing his name, Yunobo ambles over. "Hey, sister!" he beams as he adjusts his sash. "I look like Grandpa Daruk, goro!"

"You do!" she grins back. "I'm positive you'll do him proud, brother. Hey, have you seen Zelda anywhere?"

Sidon has the height advantage; he scans the crowd. "Over there, near the fountain. Talking with Miss Paya, it seems."

(Unexpectedly, Yunobo blushes - Link hadn't even known that Gorons _could_ blush - and Link and Sidon swap identical surprised smiles.)

They make their way over, stopping to say hello to Kass (chatting with Vilia; Kheel takes the opportunity to latch on to Link's leg, and it takes a few tries to detach her), pausing by the buffet that Link has helped prepare. "Your culinary lessons look like they're going well," Sidon murmurs around a pastry.

_"Would you have chosen a different path?"_

It had been a lifetime ago that Zelda had asked, and now Link was saying yes. She had completed her appointed task, and now she was going to choose the next path, wherever that would take her.

Zelda and Paya glance up as they approach; Zelda has the Slate in hand, screen open to the Compendium she's been slowly filling out and adding to. (Zelda has taken to science like Link has taken to cooking; they have shaken off 'Hero' and 'Princess', have started working on becoming Link and Zelda instead.)

"Paya, Yunobo." Sidon sketches an elegant bow; he's smiling. "May Link and I borrow Zelda for a moment? We shall not be very long!"

Yunobo hunches a little inside himself and Paya shuffles nervously, tugging at her blue sash. "O-of course." She glances at Yunobo, then smiles in a way that Link suspects is meant to be reassuring but mostly looks anxious; Zelda glances back at the two then follows Link and Sidon away.

She starts giggling as soon as they're out of earshot. "Oh dear," she murmurs, "They're both so shy I'm not sure who will get started first. I assume that was what you were doing, Sidon?"

"Guilty as charged!"

Link shakes her head bemusedly. "They're both brave when they need to be. Paya is a lot stronger than she gives herself credit for. And, you know, Yunobo was willing to be thrown directly at Rudania..." She laughs. "Still, a pretty girl may be one obstacle too many."

Sidon snickers. "I'm not entirely sure you have much room to talk, my dear, given how you _both_ reacted when you saw each other again!"

"Th-that was different!"

It's light, gentle. They remain together, a comfortable trio, until it's time for Sidon to prepare for the ceremony; Impa is leading them in it, and she is a hard taskmaster. Link and Zelda hike a little way up the hill, settle amongst the sea of green grass and blue flowers, wait and watch.

"Your hair is coming out," Zelda murmurs, and moves behind Link to fix her braid. Link closes her eyes and lets herself smile unabashedly, enjoying the feeling of Zelda's fingers in her hair.

"It's the little bits on the side, they're not quite long enough yet. They'll get there."

Zelda ties the end of the braid off, pops a Silent Princess blossom in the end; Link tucks another behind Zelda's ear. "We match," she murmurs, and Zelda touches the petals and smiles.

Two girls sitting on a hill, green and blue around them.

"Is it strange, not being involved in it?" Link asks, watching the activity below. The senators have been lead out of public view for now, but the crowd is still whirling and busy. No one notes their absence, no one searches for them.

"Mm. But in a nice way." Zelda leans against her shoulder. "I grew up in the public eye. I think that's enough public ceremony for anyone. It's refreshing, I think - not being recognised."

The three Sheikah elders, some of the Zora. The Great Deku Tree, content in his forest. So much of the past is gone, so many people who would see Zelda as the Princess first and herself second.

"I wouldn't know," Link teases gently. "Remember that little girl the other week?"

"The one who wanted her wooden sword signed by the Heroine of Hyrule?" Zelda grins. "You've certainly become quite the celebrity!"

"Goddess forbid. I don't know if chefs can become celebrities."

Zelda chuckles. "Mm. You'll just have to settle for being a chef _and_ a role model to legions of little girls. Face it, love - you're inspiring."

Link ducks her head, but smiles.

It's not so bad.

The breeze is light. The scent of summer grass and flowers is rich in the air. Zelda and Link eventually rise, brush grass from their dresses, make their way hand in hand back down the hill. The ceremony is soon to start.

Hyrule prepares to take its next step into the future. Link watches, knowing that she's helped get it there, knowing that her task is now done. And above them, the sun shines.

**The End**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone, thank you so much for bearing with me and giving me so much encouragement throughout this story! This was the first time I had started posting a story before actually finishing it, and your encouragement and comments have helped me bring this story to its conclusion. Thank you!!


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